716 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN. 



HIS STRUGGLES WERE TERRIFIC. 



We quickly decided to take that bear alive, 

 and after cutting him off from the ice we lowered 

 our launch and started in pursuit. Although 

 these bears are able to stay in the water for 

 hours, they are not very fast swimmers ; and we 

 very easilj^ overtook our quarry. When we ran 

 close up to him, he turned to fight; and then we 

 threw a rope lasso over liis head, took a turn on 

 a cleat and started to tow him to the shi]). 

 His struggles were something terrific, and in a 

 moment he had thrown the rope off his neck and 

 was free. Recoiling our rope, we threw it and 

 cauglit him again, and agaii; he fought his way 

 out of the noose to freedom. This was repeat- 

 ed many times. He rarely stayed in the rope 

 for more than three or four minutes at a time, 

 as the noose would slip over his small head very 

 easily, when we would be compelled to go back 

 and start all over again. 



Finally, however, the rope 

 held, and we succeeded in get- 

 ting the bear to the sliip, when 

 our men swung out the large 

 crane or derrick, operated by a 

 powerful steam winch, to hoist 

 him aboard. When we passed 

 the rope to the hands on deck 

 they were compelled to hold the 

 animal very tiglitly to keep him 

 from climbing into the launch. 

 Presently it seemed to me that 

 the bear was choking, and I 

 ordered the rope loosened at 

 once. Too late ! His eyes 

 were glassy, and he was stone 

 dead. 



This unfortunate experience 

 taught me something, however. 



in tlie art of catching large bears, and I de- 

 cided to use different tactics the next time. 

 At the same time, we discovered that the 

 cages bought from an animal dealer 

 in New York were too small, the 

 dealer evidently thinking we intend- 

 ed to catch cubs, wliercas, in real- 

 ity, we were expecting to ca])ture 

 bears weighing from 900 to 1100 

 pounds. The first mistake we 

 made was in getting the rope 

 squarely around the neck of the 

 animal, so I decided that the next 

 bear we roped I would leave the 

 noose slack until we had gotten his 

 forelegs through it, when we could lioist 

 liim on board and lower him into the hold 

 witliout any danger of choking him. 

 On Thursday, August -i, we sighted a large 

 bear, that the Eskimos took to be a female, but 

 which proved to be the large male bear now in 

 the Zoological Park, swimming among the small 

 broken pans. We lowered the launch and 

 started after him. We had considerable diffi- 

 culty in getting close to him, as he would gain 

 on us very rapidly whenever he crossed over 

 a pan which we were compelled to go around. 

 Finally, however, we succeeded in cutting him 

 off by running between him and the pan for 

 which he was making. Just then a very laugh- 

 able thing happened. Captain Bartlett, who 

 was steering the launch, was sitting on one side, 

 at the wheel. When the bear saw that he was 

 cut off from the pan, he dove, and we thought 

 he would come up at the other side of the boat. 

 This, however, was not in his mind, and lie came 

 u]) directly alongside, and smashed tlie boat a 

 terrible blow just about a foot under Captain 



HE THREW THE ROPE OFF AND WAS FREE. 



