American Big Game in its Haunts 



far away and against a strong wind. My natives 

 suggested that the shots must have echoed, and in 

 this I think they were right ; but even then it shows 

 how abnormally the sense of hearing has been de- 

 veloped in these bears. 



I was sorry to find that the small-bore rifle did 

 not give as great a shock as I had expected, for my 

 first two bullets had gone through the bear's lungs 

 and heart without knocking her off her feet. 



The bear was a female, as we had supposed, but 

 judging from what my natives said, only of 

 medium size. She measured 6 feet 4 inches in a 

 straight line between the nose and the end of the 

 vertebrae, and 44^ inches at the shoulders. The 

 fur was in prime condition, and of an average 

 length of 4^ inches, but over the shoulders the 

 mane was two inches longer. Unfortunately, as 

 in many of the spring skins, there was a large 

 patch over the rump apparently much rubbed. The 

 general belief is that these worn patches are made 

 by the bears sliding down hill on their haunches on 

 the snow; but my natives have a theory that this 

 is caused by the bears' pelt freezing to their dens 

 and being torn off when they wake from their win- 

 ter's sleep. 



Although this female was not large for a 

 Kadiak bear, as was proved by one I shot later In 



126 



