BEAES 67 



unguarded camps and purloins hams, bacon, canned goods and fruits, 

 raids garbage cans, and digs up heaps of tin cans and other kitchen refuse 

 buried by campers. A considerable number of the bears living in Yosemite 

 Valley regularly forage at the garbage pits and incinerators in the vicinity 

 of Cathedral Spires, as many as 10 and even 15 having been seen there 

 by attendants, usually at late dusk. Tin cans are nosed over and thoroughly 

 cleaned of any remaining particles of their original contents, and melon 

 rinds and other vegetable materials are readily devoured. Peach, plum, 

 and olive pits, watermelon, muskmelon, and apple seeds, lemon rinds, 

 eggshells, bones of chickens, mammal hair, and bones from various cuts 

 of meat are among the objects we found to have been devoured by these 

 bears. Even papers which have been wrapped around butter and cured 

 meats are eaten for the grease and salt which they have absorbed. At the 

 storehouse of the construction camp in Hetch Hetchy Valley, in the winter 

 of 1915-16, bears ripped 2-by-12-inch planks off the window openings, 

 clambered in, and made way with hams, bacon, and canned goods, even 

 while lights were burning in the house and persons were present in other 

 portions of the building. 



As regards the relation of Black Bears to stock, Mr. George Smith of 

 Jamestown, Tuolumne County, has told us that in the seventies it was 

 necessary to 'thin out' the bear population before sheep could be run with 

 safety in the mountains. At that time almost every meadow had its bear 

 trap or pen, a small log house of stout construction with a heavy door so 

 arranged that when a bear entered and seized the bait the door w^ould fall 

 and the animal would be imprisoned. Some of these traps may still be 

 seen on meadows in the northern part of the Park. Horses readily take 

 fright at the sight of a bear, although we know of no case in w^hich a bear 

 has actually attacked a horse. In Hetch Hetchy Valley Mr. C. C. Bull has 

 told us of bears visiting hog pens and feeding in the troughs alongside 

 of the rightful partakers without molesting or disturbing the latter. 

 Mr. John L. McLean has told us that bears come down around his ranch 

 on Smith Creek (6 miles east of Coulterville) to feed on acorns, but that 

 they have never molested either poultry or stock. However, he knew of 

 one occasion when some pigs were taken by Black Bears on Bullion 

 Mountain. 



Finally in regard to persons: We know of but two instances in which 

 a Black Bear has even attempted to molest any human being in the Park. 

 One case, of a mother bear resenting disturbance of her young, is recounted 

 in the chapter on the Grizzly Bear. The second instance is as follows. 

 Mr. George Smith states that while cruising timber in the Tuolumne 

 basin a number of years ago he was chased clown-hill by a she-bear. He 

 distracted the attention of the animal by picking up stones and pieces 



