76 Hunting the Grisly 



ranchman whom I knew well, who lived near 

 Flathead Lake, once in April found where a 

 troop of these wolves had killed a good-sized 

 yearling grisly. Either cougar or wolf will 

 make a prey of a grisly which is but a few 

 months old ; while any fox, lynx, wolverine, or 

 fisher will seize the very young cubs. The old 

 story about wolves fearing to feast on game 

 killed by a grisly is all nonsense. Wolves 

 are canny beasts, and they will not approach 

 a carcass if they think a bear is hidden near by 

 and likely to rush out at them ; but under ordi 

 nary circumstances they will feast not only on 

 the carcasses of the grisly s victims, but on 

 the carcass of the grisly himself after he has 

 been slain and left by the hunter. Of course 

 wolves would only attack a grisly if in the 

 most desperate straits for food, as even a vic 

 tory over such an antagonist must be pur 

 chased with heavy loss of life; and a hungry 

 grisly would devour either a wolf or a cougar, 

 or any one of the smaller carnivora offhand, if 

 it happened to corner it where it could not get 

 away. 



The grisly occasionally makes its den in a 

 cave and spends therein the midday hours. 

 But this is rare. Usually it lies in the dense 

 shelter of the most tangled piece of woods in 



