Bear Traits 



This variability has been shown in the bears 

 which I have stumbled upon at close quarters. 

 On but one occasion was I ever regularly 

 charged by a grizzly. To this animal I had 

 given a mortal wound, and without any effort 

 at retaliation he bolted into a thicket of what, 

 in my hurry, I thought was laurel (it being 

 composed in reality I suppose of thick-grow- 

 ing berry bushes). On my following him up 

 and giving him a second wound, he charged 

 very determinedly, taking two bullets without 

 flinching. I just escaped the charge by jump- 

 ing to one side, and he died almost immedi- 

 ately after striking at me as he rushed by. 

 This bear charged with his mouth open, but 

 made very little noise after the growl or roar 

 with which he greeted my second bullet. I 

 mention the fact of his having kept his mouth 

 open, because one or two of my friends who 

 have been charged have informed me that in 

 their cases they particularly noticed that the 

 bear charged with his mouth shut. Perhaps 

 the fact that my bear was shot through the 

 lungs may account for the difference, or it 

 may simply be another example of individual 

 variation. 



On another occasion, in a windfall, I got up 

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