604 THE CARNIVORES 



the largest. These, however, have been nearly or completely exterminated by the 

 shepherds, who poisoned them on account of the ravages they committed on their 

 flocks. These Sierra grizzlies are reported to have been of the enormous weight of 

 i, 800 pounds ; and there seems no doubt that instances of i ,400 and 1,200 have been 

 reached. Dr. Rainsford states, however, that he estimates the weight of the largest 

 grizzly with which he was acquainted at 1,000 pounds; and gives 900 pounds as 

 that of an unusually large male. The skin of this animal measured nine feet three 

 inches from the nose to the hind-foot, when pegged out without undue stretching ; 

 another skin measured in the same manner reached ten feet, while a third was 

 still larger. Unfortunately the length from the nose to the root of the tail is not 

 given, but it is probable that in large specimens this must be close on nine feet. 



We have already seen that the grizzly is found from Alaska to Mex- 

 ico ; and it may be added that from east to west it reaches from the 

 Coast Range across the Sierra Nevada to the Big Horn mountains in Wyoming, and 

 some distance on to the plains at its foot. Its distribution is, however, becoming 

 gradually more and more restricted. In 1868 bears were to be found on the plains 

 for several hundred miles eastward of the Big Horn, but they are now rare even in 

 that range itself. Similarly, they have greatly diminished in numbers in Southern 

 California and the parallel valleys of the Coast hills further to the northward. 



That the grizzly bear will eat flesh whenever it has the chance is ad- 

 mitted by all, but there is some decrepancy of opinion as to whether it 

 ever kills large Mammals for the sake of their flesh. Thus, while Sir Samuel Baker 

 denies that they ever do so, Dr. Rainsford relates a case where his hunter saw a 

 grizzly attack one of three bisons. Wherever wapiti are abundant there will grizzly 

 bears be found. Failing meat, the} 7 , according to Dr. Rainsford, thrive on nuts, 

 acorns, etc. ; "and," he says " the fattest grizzles I ever killed were those that had 

 been feeding for weeks on the pine-nuts that the mountain squirrels stow away in such 

 great plenty in the little colonies on the upper hillsides. Where the nut pine is plen- 

 tiful, you may also expect to find bears." The grizzly is a bad climber, and seldom 

 resorts to trees at all. Its strength is, however, prodigious. One has been seen to 

 break the neck of a tall bison with a single blow of its paw; another has bodily car- 

 ried off, over very rough ground, a male wapiti, weighing nearly 1,000 pounds. 



Sir Samuel Baker states that a frequent practice in bear shooting is to kill sev- 

 eral deer, and leave them untouched on the ground as baits. "At daybreak on the 

 following morning the hunter visits his baits, and he will probably find that the bears 

 have been extremely busy during the night in scratching a hole somewhat like a 

 shallow grave or trench, in which they have rolled the carcass ; they have then cov- 

 ered it with earth and grass, and in many cases the bears may be discovered either 

 in the act of working, or, having completed their labor, they may be found lying 

 down asleep, half gorged with flesh." 



In the northern part of its range the grizzly bear hibernates, but it is probable 

 that in the south it remains active throughout the winter. When it first comes out 

 in the spring, it has a habit of standing upright against a pine or other tree and 

 scoring its bark with its claws. Very incorrect conclusions have been drawn from 

 these marks as to the size of the bears by which they were made, it having been 



