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Ml Robson 



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T/»e position, conformation, and boundaries of this province may 

 be seen on the map by reference to the international and state 

 boundaries and the limited stretch of coast that is shown. It is 

 entirely mountainous: it is some 850 miles long from Mount 

 Robson in the north to Wind River in the south, and some 

 600 miles wide from the Big Horn to the Blue Mountains at its 

 widest. 



The reason for treating it at this point is that, as may he seen 

 on both the general map and the province map. it lies wholly 

 within the North Scrub Belt. In fact, any land within its confines 



that lies below one thousand feet in the south or two hundred 

 feet in the north — though there is only a little at those elevations 

 around the periphery of the province — 15 clothed in typical 

 scrub. It is the best example on this continent of haw little, if 

 any. effect altitude has on the distribution of the major 

 vegetational belts. 



The northeastern face of this province is the great barrier 

 that slices this continent from the mouth of the Mackenzie River 

 on the Arctic Ocean to Vera Cruz in Mexico. The Big Horn 

 Mountains form an outlier. On the northwest, it marches with 

 and in part coalesces with the northern extremity of the 

 Cascades, which are clothed in a special type of montane forest 

 related to the northwest Pacific "rain forests" of British Columbia 

 and Alaska. South of this, on its west face, its periphery forms 

 a sharp line of demarcation with the Scablands, which its 

 extension, the Blue Mountains, cradles on the south. The 

 province's southern face is turned to the North Scrub Belt 

 and Gray Deserts of the Great Basin. 



The dividing line between this province and the Southern 

 Montane Block is very distinct: it runs south of the Caribou 

 Range and north of the Preuss Range on the border between 

 Idaho and Wyoming and just north of their junction with Utah. 

 Immediately to the east of this narrow gap lies the almost 

 circular, scrub-covered Wyoming Basin, which connects 

 eastward with the Great Prairies. 



To many people this block represents the "Northern Rockies" 

 as opposed to the Canadian Rockies, while the Southern 

 Montane Block constitutes the "Southern Rockies." These are 

 sound definitions, since they serve to distinguish these complexes 

 of mountains from the coast ranges, but it must be remembered 

 thai about a third of this province lies in Canada and neither 

 plants nor animals recognize political boundaries. 



seem to be made for cuddling. But this can be most misleading. 

 We have already met the brown or dish-faced bears and, let us 

 hope, got them and their grizzly-coated representatives sorted 

 out. In doing that we had occasion to mention the Black Bear 

 (Euarctos americanus). This is one of the commonest and perhaps 

 the most widely distributed of all our mammals, ranging across 

 the boreal forests of the north from Alaska to Newfoundland and 

 south via the mountain ranges of the west to both the Sierra 

 Occidental and the Sierra Oriental in Mexico, and via the 

 Appalachians to Georgia. Florida, and Louisiana. 



The whole question of black bears is almost as complicated 

 as that of "brown bears," for they come in various shades of 

 brown, gray, and black, at any season and often in the same 

 litter. But there are races that are always brown and some that 

 are white— the Kermode Bear from Gribble Island and the 

 Kitimat Arm of Douglas Channel in British Columbia, which is 

 pure white except for an ocher wash on its head and along the 

 midback. Then in the region of the St. Elias Mountains in Alaska 

 there is a form that is blue-gray. It would seem reasonable to 

 suppose that a black bear should be black, and a brown bear 

 brown. Unfortunately it does not work out that way. However, 

 the animal now popularly called the Black Bear is quite distinct 

 from all those animals called brown bears and from all other 

 bears for that matter. The best way to recognize it, as we pointed 

 out in Chapter 3, is by the up-arched or convex upper ridge of 

 its snout as seen in profile. This may not seem to matter, but it 

 will if you go wandering about in Ihe mountains of this province. 



There are still in this area grizzly bears, some of which are of 

 a pronouncedly dark tone. There are also some large black bears 

 which in old age and at certain seasons may he considerably 

 silvered and lack any white on their snouts. The non-specialist 

 on a camping or fishing trip may well mistake the one for the 

 other in poor light. Although all hears should be given as wide a 

 berth as possible and never encouraged with offers of food, 

 evasive action in face of a grizzly on a foraging foray should be 

 quite different from and more energetic than that in face of a 

 black bear. The Black Bear is very inquisitive and bold, and if 

 tempted and then frustrated can be terribly dangerous because it 

 can outrun most horses, climb trees, and move with unbelievable 

 speed. It slashes with its paws. hugs, bites, and bulldozes, and it 

 is an infighter and terrifically strong. On the whole, however, it 

 keeps its distance from humans. 



Grizzlies may behave in quite a different way. and one 

 shouldn't be misled by the gallant tales of hunters. Grizzlies are 

 bolder than black bears in their own territory, and they may 

 actually attack. The best thing to do, should one appear, is to get 

 into the nearest bear-proof shelter and wait till the animal goes 

 on about its business, which it will do. Failing a shelter, present 

 a united front and don't run. Best of all, don't go into grizzly 

 territory without taking the advice of either officials in charge of 

 the country or the best local professional hunters. But beware 

 also of black bears, even along roads. Today these animals have 

 taken to wandering about highways in this province like tramps 

 looking for handouts. They block traffic, stand up and beg. and 



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