CARNIVORA 2OI 



Mountains seldom attack human beings, in the Sierras "stories of un- 

 provoked attacks by grizzlies are frequent, and not few are the lives 

 lost in such encounters." 7 Perhaps he was not careful in ascertaining and 

 analyzing the facts. Nevertheless, it should be remembered that any 

 carnivorous animal of such size and strength is potentially a dangerous 

 creature, for it may imagine itself or its young in danger when such is 

 not actually the case. In 1895 bears killed twelve persons in India, mostly 

 natives. 8 



Much has been written about the destructiveness of bears to game 

 and domestic stock. There can be no doubt that they do kill both, but 

 probably they do not quite live up to their reputation in this respect. 9 

 It may be, too, that only an occasional individual acquires this habit, 

 as in the case of "man-eating" lions. It must be admitted that if bears 

 were more abundant, resulting in greater competition for food, they 

 would likely destroy more stock and game. If other food were easily 

 obtained, they would probably not go to the trouble of killing large ani- 

 mals, but an animal pressed by hunger will go to almost any extent to 

 obtain food. An occasional "killer" may do great damage, just as a 

 sheep-killing dog does. A famous grizzly is believed by stockmen to have 

 killed one cow every other day during the active season for fifteen years, 

 a total of over 1200 cows, one daily during the fourteenth season and 

 34 in one ten-day period. 10 



Possibly the stock-killing and game-killing reputation of bears is 

 partly due to the fact that they are seen feeding upon carcasses or their 

 tracks seen about carcasses of animals which have died natural or ac- 

 cidental deaths or been killed by mountain lions. The latter are strictly 

 carnivorous, requiring fresh meat and doing their own killing, but bears 

 are omnivorous and carrion-feeders. Bruce, a state lion hunter in 

 California, who has had much experience with bears and mountain 

 lions, says that "the black bear is not by nature a killer," and that in 

 every case investigated by him the bear was found to be innocent. 11 

 Anthony says he has often investigated accusations of bears killing sheep 



7 Henshaw, Kept. Chief of Engineers, U. S. Dept. War, for 1876, Part 3, p. 528. 



8 F.C.K., Deaths from wild animals and snakes in India, Amer. Nat., xxxi, 77-78, 

 1897- 



9 See Seton, Lives of game animals, 11, Part i, pp. 27-31, 160-162. 



10 Mills, Grizzly's high-power nose, Atlantic Monthly, cxxix, pp. 36-40, 1922. 



11 Bruce, The black bear in relation to stock, California Fish and Game, ix, 16-18, 

 1923. See also Which is the outlaw, the sheepman or the bear, Outdoor Life, LXVI, 

 May, 1930. Armijo, The sheepman's fight against wild life, Outdoor Life, LXVI, 40, 

 1930. Spencer, New light on bear protection and overgrazing, Outdoor Life, LXVI, 

 40-41, 1930. 



