246 The Grizzly Bear 



and there learned the wisdom of keeping away from 

 wounded animals. 



If, at the present time, the grizzly was prone to at- 

 tack people at sight, it seems evident that more hunters 

 would see them when seeking them in their chosen terri- 

 tory. There are scores of sportsmen who would give 

 almost any amount to get a shot at one of these "ferocious 

 and awful monarchs of the woods"; and they hunt year 

 after year in countries where bear tracks are more plenti- 

 ful than those of deer. But the wary brutes remain out 

 of sight and, for the most part, manage to keep a whole 

 skin. I once had a man out with me who said, when 

 speaking of the bear tracks to be seen, that if he were in 

 a country where there was one deer track to the fifty 

 grizzly tracks that he saw, he would guarantee to kill six 

 deer a day. 



To sum up, then, it seems to be beyond doubt that a 

 century's contact with men armed with rifles has rendered 

 the grizzly bear a more wary and cautious animal. It 

 would, indeed, be strange if this were not so, for the griz- 

 zly is quick to learn and has had innumerable oppor- 

 tunities of learning; and there have been thirty or forty 

 generations during which his individual lessons have been 

 moulding the instinct of the race. But that, during this 

 time, the grizzly has changed from a bloodthirsty and 

 ferocious tyrant to an inoffensive minder of his own busi- 

 ness, "defensive, not aggressive," I can find nothing in 

 the records to show, nor do I for a moment believe. 



