Till: i.lU/./.I.Y HEAR, ftf] 



I :.iws with its huge paws, arm' ! \\iih their arrax ( trenchant i:d..n>. ami holding it* power- 

 ful teeth in readiness for a close com! tat. So tenacious of life is rue <inr/l\ Hear, that 

 unless it : . . r, . ~ ., wound i:i M,. 1,. i.l 01 i.. .,11 it u ill . ..ni i mi.- ii.s furious -n u_-_ i.-. . \ . n 

 though it IN. riddli-d with bullets :m<l its |MN|\ p. i..-d with many a gaping wound. 

 i . Yad&Q ..;::.-: M... : tin rivatim : -; . : ! i ;. th< aativi - Hid colonist ml 



flu- slau. ' fj\\- Bear in fair iL'ht is considered an Mn-m.-h high honor. 



\iitnic til-- native tribes that dwell in tin- northern |.,.ni..n- .,f \m. ii.-.i. the |>oases8Joit 

 kla.-e formed from tin- daws of the (frizzly Rear it ron-j,|,-i,-,l .m enviable mark 

 of distinction. No one is j-nnitti-<l to wear such un ornament unlcs, the Hear had 

 fallen und.T liis hand; consequent l\, the value of tin- decoration is alms| iin alciiluhle. 

 S. l.irirrh is this mark of <listinrti..n ]ni/.-<l, that tin- Indian who has achicvi^l Mirh dignity 

 can hardly be induced to part with his valued oniaim-nt l<y any nniunnition that can IM 

 offered. 



Mr. I'allis*-!. \slio\\ as fortunate i-non^h to kill live of tln-s' ti-rrilile cii-atuii-s. \\itlioiit 

 MilTerini: from tlu-ir tt-th or<-la\\s. IM-;H-N ample testimony to the fury with which they make 

 their axsaults. :in ,i the need of a cool ilet.'i-minatinn in the hunter who matches himself against 

 Mich a foe. Just as the Bear approaches within a few yards of its adversary, it sits up on its 

 hind legs for a moment, and then rushes forward uithalniost inconceivable velocity. Hut the 

 moment \\heii the H-ar n-mains quiescent affords sufficient time fora determined hunter to 

 take a steady aim. and to lod^e n bullet in the heart or brain of the savage foe. 



When the hunter is sufficiently confident in his {towers of nerve to match himself apiiast 

 the Bear, he can jjeneralh come U|M.H his pmn liy siirchin^ amontr the lower lying ground -., 

 which an- tilli-d with ru i irir-l timln-r anil scrub fruit-tn-es. 



It is cenerally supjxwed that the (irix/ly H-ar is unable to ascend trees, but it is now 

 ascertained, that the anim.il is quite an adept in tri-i- dimbinir. and makes use of the scandent 

 art for the purpose of supphiin: it-elf with a bountiful and leisurely rejiaM. AS the Hear ia 

 \ery fond of aconis. ami does not choose to gather them separately from the branches on which 

 they grow, it ascends the trees, and with its jxtwerful fore-limbs administers such se\ere blows 

 and shakings to the boughs that the rije acorns shower down like hail to the earth, whither 

 the ingenious animal s^-diK d.-s.-.-n-N iu order to reap the ln-nelit of its exertions. Yet it is 

 frequently found that a mun who has l)een chased by a Grizzly Bear has succeeded in sa\ inu 

 his life by ascending a tree which the Hear has made rejieuted but inelT>-ctual efforts to climb. 

 The two accounts may be reconciled by the supposition that while the Bear is young, and com- 

 paratively agile in proportion to its weight, it is capable of ascending a jterpendicular tree- 

 trunk : but that when it U-comes large and unwieldy, its limb* are not sufficiently jiowerfnl to 

 raise eo great a weight from the earth by so slight a hold as that which is afforded by the claws 

 as they atfix themselves to the rough bark. 



The color" of the (Jii/./.ly Hear i- extremely variable, so much so, indeed, that some zoolo- 

 gists have suggested the existence of t\\o distinct species. Sometimes the color of the fur is a 

 dullish brown, plentifully flecked with grizzled hairs, and in other sjtH-irnens the entire fur in 

 of a l>eautiful steely gray. In every case, however these grizzled hairs are very conspicuous, 

 so that then- appears to be a certain tendency to whiteness in the surface of the fur. 1 

 this peculiarity, the s^-citic title of "candescens," or whitish, has been affixed to the <;ri//ly 

 Bear by Major Smith, and the creature has, in one or two hunters' narratives, been erroneously 

 ibed as the White Bear. 



The ( irizzly Bear( Ur*iu horribilis), or - it lias been called, is met w ith nearest east 



in the Missouri Hm-r r'-irioii. alH.\.- I-'oit I'i.-ii.-. and is abundant on the Yellowstone. Along 

 the Rocky Mountains and towards Nf.-xii-.. it finds its natural habitat. A variety having si itrht 

 differences in color is found in >onura, and the copper regions of New Mexico. 



Mr. Bell, our venerable taxidermist, accompanied Audul>on in his tour over the Itocky 

 Mountain country. They encountered a ;ri//ly Bear on sevend iM-casims, when the creature 

 quickly turned and trie. I to esca].e. Tliese and other similar instam.- .-aus.^1 Mr. Audubon 

 tit Itelieve that the (Jriz/ly din-s not voluntarily attack man. Instances of savage encounter are 

 always preceded by great provocation. 



