t^t <Bn33fg 



were they traveling together? I heard of a number of 

 bears traveling together in northern New Mexico. 



On one occasion a hunter on No-Wood Creek in 

 the Big Horns saw seven old grizzlies and two cubs 

 together in the autumn. They were back- tracked 

 to the Yellowstone Park. The garbage-dumps in 

 the Park are frequented by neighboring bears and 

 by numbers from outside the bounds of the Park. 



As bears age, their teeth become broken and 

 badly worn away. With difficulty they manage to 

 live. They are often handicapped through loss of 

 toes and by other injuries received in accidents 

 and fights, and through a weakening of faculties 

 due to age. Their normal life appears to be from 

 thirty-five to fifty years. 



In the mountains of the north of Yellowstone 

 Park I came upon an extremely old, hard-looking 

 bear. I sat for some time within forty feet of him, 

 watching him rip an old log to pieces to get the ants 

 and white grubs. I was so close that I could see his 

 tongue as it busily licked to right and left. His red- 

 looking eyes stared strangely. I think that he must 

 have been nearly blind, and also that he had nearly 

 lost his ability to scent. When I moved a little 

 closer, he stopped eating, rose up, sniffed the air 



58 



