224 The Grizzly Bear 



to escape the flies. But a grizzly, when forced to, will 

 travel far for the food he craves. He will go many miles to 

 feed on berries during their season, if none grow near his 

 own especial haunts; and in the Bitter Roots he makes 

 considerable journeys to reach the salmon streams. The 

 farthest that I have ever actually known an individual 

 grizzly to go is twenty miles, but I am inclined to believe 

 that they will go much farther than this if need be. I have 

 repeatedly seen a particular bear in one locality year after 

 year, and then found him, fifteen or twenty miles away, 

 across a divide or on another plateau, to which, doubtless, 

 he had moved for better feeding. I believe, however, that 

 they invariably return to their old haunts for the winter. 



It is perhaps necessary, in this connection, to call 

 attention to the fact that there is as much individuality in 

 bears as in dogs or horses or people. To the unfamiliar 

 observer all Chinamen look alike, and so do all bears. 

 But to me, as to any one long accustomed to go among 

 them and study them, a bear previously seen and watched 

 is as easily remembered and recognized as a man. 



In the regions where the grizzly feeds upon the car- 

 casses of game winter killed or left by hunters, he nearly 

 always drags their remains, after his first meal, to some 

 sheltered spot, and buries it, to keep the birds and other 

 beasts from feeding upon it. He is so powerful that he 

 will drag loads that seem incredible over the most diffi- 

 cult ground and for long distances. Over logs and 

 through thick underbrush he drags and lifts his burden 

 until he finds a spot that exactly suits him. Then he 

 digs up the earth, places his booty in the hole, and piles 

 logs and anything movable upon it until he has completely 



