HUNTING IN BRITISH COLUMBIA 



a drizzling rain, while skirting the edge of the barren where I 

 had met this last band of caribou, we had the first intimation of 

 the presence of grizzlies in a sudden loud snort close by in the 

 timber, followed by the rapidly receding noise of some large 

 animal rushing through the underbrush. On investigation we 

 found out that what was left of the cow caribou had been 

 dragged into the shelter of the trees and almost completely 

 devoured by a large grizzly, which we had evidently surprised 

 at its feast. We also discovered, by the tracks in the mud and 

 snow, that a still larger bear had been feeding on the remains of 

 the bull caribou, which was lying in the centre of the barren, 

 and that a female grizzly with three cubs had been circling 

 around, but had not yet eaten, what remained of the carcass 

 of the smaller bull killed in the adjoining meadow several days 

 before. 



We spent a hard and unsuccessful day after caribou in a con- 

 tinuous drizzle, and finished an uncomfortable supper in camp 

 about five o'clock during a heavy downpour. However, this 

 was the clearing shower, and as the sun came out brightly for 

 a few moments before it disappeared, I hurried over to the barren 

 where we had seen the bear sign that morning, w^hile Dell started 

 to cut firewood for the night. A long, slender arm of marsh 

 stretched from the barren into the spruce forest, and I was care- 

 fully stealing along this to where I could get a good view of the 

 open, when, three hundred yards distant, I saw the shaggy 

 mass of a large grizzly slouching across the meadow in the 

 direction of the remains of the bull caribou. The bear reached 

 the carcass, and, in spite of the continuous rain which had fallen 

 during the day, detected some indistinct scent of where we 

 had passed that morning, raised itself cautiously on its haunches, 

 and sniffed suspiciously in all directions. Then it dropped to 

 all fours, and galloped toward safety in the darkening woods. 



While watching these interesting movements I had not been 

 idle, but had been rapidly stealing from one clump of stunted 



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