THE BLACK BEAR OF PENNSYLVANIA 49 



Ashe, traveling from Harrisburg to Pittsburg via 

 what is now the Lincoln Highway, in 1806, killed a 

 bear, and saw others on the way. In a Schuylkill 

 County publication, the obituary of a celebrated local 

 Irishman recounts how, the first night of his arrival 

 in the mountains near Tremont, he was roused from 

 his bed 'to be shown a large black bear, which was 

 prowiing around the premises. A woman at Burn- 

 ham, Mifflin County, in 1918 saw what she thought 

 were two black dogs attacking her garbage pile. It 

 was dark, but she tried to chase them away. Going 

 closer, she discovered that she was "shooing" a pair 

 of mammoth bears. Needless to say, they finished 

 their feast unmolested. 



As to weight of the Pennsylvania bears, 250 pounds 

 would be a good average for mature specimens. Most 

 of the published weights are estimates, as 'there are 

 seldom scales to weigh the big brutes after they are 

 killed. Five and even six hundred pound bears have 

 been reported, and while such bears have sometimes 

 been killed in this State, they are only isolated in- 

 stances. Forester R. B. Winter, of MifBinburg, Union 

 County, has reported a 400-pound bear killed in 

 Karoondinha' State Forest in hunting season, 1920. 



Edward Wiger, of Elk Township, Sullivan County, 

 is said to have killed a bear that "hog dressed" 5-12 

 pounds in 1910. Martin Emery, of Glen Iron, Union 

 County, is credited with having killed a 500 pound bear 

 about the same time. 



