THE ADIRONDACK BLACK BEAR. 249 



about six feet of lead, and as they passed I fired both barrels of No. 8 bird shot 

 into the first bear at a range of about ten feet. She showed no evidence of having 

 been hit, and kept on her chase for some twenty yards, when she turned into the 

 woods, the other three bears taking to the woods when opposite our carriage. The 

 dog quickly turned and followed them, and when about thirt)- j-ards from the road 

 he stopped and began to bark furiously. I jumped from the carriage and started to 

 go to the dog, and when nearly to him Mrs. Chahoon called excitedly for me to 

 come to her. On getting back I found that another very large bear had come into 

 the road and stood on his hind legs in front of the horse, while the horse rose on his 

 hind legs and looked at Hruin. As soon as our horse was quiet enough to be 

 hitched, Mrs. Chahoon and I went to the dog, which was still barking at the bear 

 where it had fallen. 



We tried to drag it to the road ; but two hundred pounds was more than our 

 hands alone could manage. While thus engaged Mr. Edmund Roberts came along 

 with the stage, and with his help the dead captive was put into his wagon and 

 carried back to our home, where its hide now makes a fine rug on our floor. The 

 ground where the bear was shot showed no blood or other evidence of the animal 

 having been hit. Both charges struck near the shoulder and were driven down- 

 ward, and part of them went entirely through the body. The shot was not bunched, 

 but had separated so as to form a pattern resembling the top of a large pepper box. 

 There was nothing to indicate a struggle, and doubtless she fell perfectly dead 

 where she lay when we reached her. In all she must have run 50 or 60 yards with 

 her heart riddled with shot. 



It would be interesting if some fairly correct estimate could be made of the 

 number of black bears now in the State. Realizing that any man's guess would be of 

 little value, and with the knowledge that my data is far from exhaustive, I men- 

 tion the following in the hope that it may prove something better than a mere guess. 



The year 1894 was the last one in which the State paid bounties on bears, and 

 that year we paid for the killing of 359 in the Adirondacks. With not very full 

 data for a guide, and the record complete in only a few counties, I am of the opinion 

 that the year 1894 may be taken as a fair average. 



If bears have young every two years, and have two or three at a time, and half 

 of them are females, with any reasonable allowance for deaths, other than by man, it 

 would require a thousand mature individuals to sustain this annual loss of 359 with- 

 out extermination ; and I believe it is safe to assume there arc more than one thou- 

 sand in the Adirondacks, as a large allowance should be made for loss and failure of 

 young. The same rule would make the number in the Catskills about five hundred. 



