146 WILD ANIMALS. 



are possessed of such, muscular strength, that, after overpowering 

 one of these large animals, they can drag away the huge carcase, 

 which sometimes weighs over 1000 pounds, and digging a pit for 

 its reception, deposit it therein, and to this hoarded supply they 

 repair whenever hungry, until it is completely consumed. 



The skin of this formidable bruin is highly prized, for the fur is 

 thick, long, and fine. Its colour is not uniform, but varies from a 

 light-grey to a blackish-brown, the latter shade being by far the 

 most common. It is always more or less grizzled by having the 

 hair tipped with grey or by an intermixture of individual hairs 

 greyish-coloured. Its legs are covered with dark and coarse fur, 

 while the hair on the muzzle is very short and so pale in colour 

 that it confers on the animal an appearance of baldness. The 

 feet are very large, the fore-paws frequently measuring nine inches 

 in breadth and the hind ones being still larger. They are orna- 

 mented with tremendous claws, those on the fore-feet being the 

 largest, measuring over five inches in length, and are thick up to 

 the very point. The size of these talons, combined with the great 

 weight of the body, unfits the grizzly for climbing trees, but they 

 enable it to dig up the ground easily and to kill larger animals 

 than the other bears would venture to attack. Its gait is a curious, 

 shambling one. When going at any speed the fore-limbs seem to 

 canter and the hind ones to slide along in a most peculiar manner, 

 while the head is kept swaying from side to side all the time. 

 The grizzly has a massive skull, much larger in proportion than in 

 other members of the JJrsidce; small eyes, pointed muzzle, powerful 

 jaws, and a set of most formidable-looking teeth. These bears 

 do not hug their victims, but standing up on their hind-legs, 

 strike with their terrific paws and inflict frightful wounds. 



In size a full-grown male will measure from eight and a half to 

 nine feet in length, his girth be about the same, and he will weigh 

 about 800 pounds. Sometimes an individual animal will attain 

 much larger proportions ; one that was exhibited in the United 

 States was said to have turned the scale at 2000 pounds. 



A grizzly will in ordinary cases avoid an encounter with man, 

 unless startled suddenly, cornered, or hungry, when it seems to lose 

 all fear and charges vigorously. It has a deep gruff growl, which is a 



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