j6 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 



