A Cattle-killing Bear 



the cattle w r ould not go down on this 

 bottom at all; then he began to wander 

 over the adjoining bottoms, and finally 

 to make excursions far off in the broken 

 country. Evidently he would some- 

 times at night steal along a coulee until 

 he found cattle lying down on the hill- 

 side, and then approach cautiously and 

 seize his prey. 



Usually the animals he killed were cows 

 or steers; and noticing this, a certain 

 ranchman in the neighborhood used to 

 boast that a favorite bull on his ranch, of 

 which he was particularly proud, would ( 

 surely account for the bear if the latter : * 

 dared to attack him. The boast poved 3: 

 vain. One day a cow-boy riding down 

 a lonely coulee came upon the scene ofj 

 what had evidently been a very hard con 

 flict. There were deep marks of hoof 

 and claws in the soft soil, bushes wer< 

 smashed down where the struggling 



35 



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