THIRTY YEARS A HUNTER. 171 



taking it by throwing ray coat over it. It was but 

 little larger than a good-sized cat, and I carried it 

 home in a basket which I borrowed of an Indian 

 who lived in the vicinity. When a bear is attacked 

 and wishes merely to act upon the defensive, it stands 

 erect and with its fore-paws repels the attack. If it 

 wishes to close in with an enemy, it grasps it with its 

 fore-paws, while with its teeth and hind-paws it tears 

 its victim in pieces. I know of but one animal rang- 

 ing our forests which I think capable of defending 

 itself successfully against a bear — that is a buck elk 

 with full-grown antlers. I never knew of a contest 

 between a bear and an elk, but I have no doubt the 

 elk would prove more than a match. Bears seldom 

 fight among themselves, and I never witnessed but 

 one instance of a conflict between two of them. It 

 was in November, a light snow lay upon the ground 

 and in wandering through the woods I struck the 

 tracks of three bears. After following them some 

 distance I arrived at a place which had evidently 

 been the scene of a desperate encounter. The snow 

 and shrubbery were beaten down and the ground 

 covered with blood. As there were no other tracks 

 in the vicinity than those of the bears, they were 

 undoubtedly the belligerents. Half a mile beyond' 

 were the marks of another struggle. At this place 

 one of the animals had taken another direction from 

 the other two, leaving no blood in the track. He 

 had probably become disgusted at the conduct of his 

 companions, and left them to fight it out between 

 themselves. I continued on the track of the two, 



