154 BIG GAME SHOOTING 



CHAPTER IX 



EUROPEAN BIG GAME 

 By Major Algernon Heber Percy 



BROWN BEAR HUNTING IN RUSSIAN LAPLAND 



Ursus arctos, the bear of Northern Europe, exists rather 

 plentifully in the forests' to. the extreme north of Russian Lap- 

 land. This bear is omnivorous : he feeds on roots, leaves, 

 wild berries such as molte berries (which grow in large quan- 

 tities in the Northern swamps), and is especially fond of the 

 giant angelica, which occurs occasionally in patches. To 

 salmon or other fish he is extremely partial, and I have seen 

 places where he has been gorging himself on salmon on the 

 Valasjok river, where the first fosse is divided into a large and 

 small fall by an island in the middle of it. Salmon endeavour 

 to go up both falls, and when the water is low the small fall 

 ceases running and the pool below it drains out, leaving any 

 fish that may be there imprisoned to die, a fact immediately 

 taken advantage of by bears in search of dinner. Bears are 

 carnivorous when they get the chance. The largest brown 

 bear I shot in Russian Lapland measured 8 ft. from the 

 tip of his nose to the tip of what we must call in courtesy 

 his tail. Brown bears have the most extraordinary tenacity 

 of life ; no wound is instantly fatal except in the brain or 

 spine, or incapacitates from attack, except perhaps if the 

 bullet takes effect in the kidneys. The bear's enormous 

 muscular strength is very apparent when he is divested of his 

 warm fur coat ; indeed the Russian Lapps, or ' Nortalash,' as 



