THE BLACK BEAR OF PENNSYLVANIA 81 



him that it was no colored man, but a 1 huge bear. Then 

 Wakers said if 'he had known that he would have 

 killed himself running. 



(Bears walking about erect in the woods may be 

 the origin of some of the gorilla stories prevalent in 

 Central Pennsylvania, 1920-1921. H. W. S.) 



Bear Story No. 3 



As late as 1912 or 1913 Dr. A. T. Dewitt, a fine old 

 gentleman, whose greatest delight was to be in the 

 woods looking for bears, foxes, skunks,etc., spent the 

 greater part of his time in trapping at Zimmerman's 

 farm with 'his friend 1 , Jake Zimmerman, but he never 

 caught a bear ait Jake's, and took up his trapping for 

 bears in Colum'bia County at or near Elk Grove, 

 where he built a bear pen. 



One day he went up to the pen and crawled in 

 himself to arrange something at the back, and in some 

 way the trap sprung and penned the old doctor in 

 and when night came the people he was stopping with 

 went to look after the old trapper and found him 

 caught in his own bear pen. When they came tip to 

 the pen with a lantern the old doctor said, " What 

 are you fellows after?" and they said they were look- 

 ing for him. Then he said': "Oh, I am alright," and 

 so he was alright a, prisoner in 'his own bear pen. 

 But he got his "heart's desire" afterwards by catch- 

 ing a nice 150-pound bear in his trap or pen, and it 



