Characteristics and Habits 205 



mon sight to see them, during their third summer, working 

 together under the undisputed command of the one to 

 whom they had yielded the leadership. I incline to the 

 belief that they do not separate and breed until the follow- 

 ing spring. 



When not feeding, grizzlies lie up in some dense thicket 

 near a stream, or, if in a region where they are apt to be 

 disturbed, far back in some high canon. I have seen 

 many of their beds. In the Selkirks, these sleeping places 

 are far above timber line, dug out from the side of steep 

 mountains where there is not a shrub or a bush to screen 

 them, and where they have an unobstructed view of miles 

 of country. Here, as the signs indicate, they return to 

 sleep day after day. 



I have sometimes almost thought that these bears, in 

 a way, enjoy the grand view to be had from these heights. 

 Not only have I found their bedrooms high up among the 

 crags and overlooking range upon range of highest moun- 

 tain, with restful, wide-spreading valleys below; but it has 

 been no unusual experience, while hunting in these high 

 regions, to see an old bear, after feeding for an hour or 

 more far out of reach of my rifle, stroll deliberately out to 

 the edge of some high cliff overlooking all creation, and 

 sit there on his haunches like a dog, swinging his massive 

 head slowly and dignifiedly from side to side. I have 

 already mentioned the grizzly that we called White Jim, 

 on Wilson's Creek in the Selkirks. This old white bear 

 went through this performance nearly every day for three 

 weeks. 



Grown grizzlies do not climb trees. And this for a 

 simple reason. They are not built that way. Once in a 



