OLD EPHRAIM, THE GRISLY BEAR. 59 



and bundle it out over the fence to its death. 

 In carrying its prey a bear sometimes holds 

 the body in its teeth, walking along on all- 

 fours and dragging it as a wolf does. Some- 

 times, however, it seizes an animal in its fore- 

 arms or in one of them, and walks awkwardly 

 on three legs or two, adopting this method in 

 lifting and pushing the body over rocks and 

 down timber. 



When a grisly can get at domestic animals 

 it rarely seeks to molest game, the former 

 being far less wary and more helpless. Its 

 heaviness and clumsiness do not fit it well for 

 a life of rapine against shy woodland crea- 

 tures. Its vast strength and determined tem- 

 per, however, more than make amends for 

 lack of agility in the actual struggle with the 

 stricken prey ; its difficulty lies in seizing, not 

 in killing, the game. Hence, when a grisly 

 does take to game-killing, it is likely to attack 

 bison, moose, and elk ; it is rarely able to 

 catch deer, still less sheep or antelope. In 

 fact these smaller game animals often show 

 but little dread of its neighborhood, and, 

 though careful not to let it come too near, go 

 on grazing when a bear is in full sight. 

 Whitetail deer are frequently found at home 

 in the same thicket in which a bear has its 

 den, while they immediately desert the tem- 

 porary abiding place of a wolf or cougar. 

 Nevertheless, they sometimes presume too 

 much on this confidence. A couple of years 

 before the occurrence of the feats of cattle- 

 killing mentioned above as happening near my 



