2o6 The Grizzly Bear 



while I have seen a grizzly cub go up a tree whose branches 

 started at the very ground and grew in such a way as to 

 allow him to step from one to another; but they never 

 climb smooth and straight-bodied trees as do black bears 

 of all ages, and they never encircle the tree with their 

 arms, as such an animal must, in order to climb a smooth 

 trunk. Grown grizzlies will walk out on a leaning tree 

 such as a man might walk out on with rubber-soled shoes, 

 and they are very expert walkers on fallen logs and timber, 

 and often take to them when trailed. But they not only 

 do not, but cannot, climb. 



The grizzly is not, as many hunters and sportsmen 

 suppose, a gregarious animal. One may, and, indeed, 

 often does, see several of them feeding at the same time in 

 the same bottom, or among the bushes of a single berry 

 patch. But, except in the case of a she bear with cubs, 

 or of a litter of cubs that have left their mother, but have 

 not yet disbanded, they will always be found to come 

 singly, and to depart in like manner. Indeed, the etiquette 

 that appears to govern these chance meetings is one of the 

 most amusing things about these animals. An old bear 

 will emerge from the bushes surrounding an open glade 

 where several others are already feeding; he will pause and 

 look critically about as though examining the lay of the 

 land and the distribution of the trees and bushes; but he 

 will show in no way that he is conscious of the presence of 

 the other bears; and these, in their turn, will go on about 

 their business, and by not so much as a batted eyehd show 

 any recognition of his arrival. Sometimes, later on, if two 

 of them meet, or clash over some tidbit, their first move- 

 ment is always one of surprise at the other's presence, and 



