n6 



RECREATfON. 



man. In many ways it resembles a hog. 

 It likes to wallow in mud and filth. If suf- 

 ficient food is at hand it will eat until it 

 falls down in a stupor. It is omnivorous, 

 and its food consists of whatever it can 

 find. In summer it lives on roots and ber- 

 ries. At other seasons it preys on cattle, 

 sheep, pigs, poultry or other animals. 

 Often it eats carcasses. 



Some years ago I was trying to fill an 

 order for several pine martens. A pros- 

 pector named "Charcoal" Brown lived in a 

 cabin on Douglas creek, near Laramie, 

 Wyoming, and I went out there hoping to 

 trap a few martens in that vicinity. One 

 day, while Charcoal and I were away from 

 the cabin, a bear broke in and created 

 havoc with our provisions. He ripped open 

 the sack of flour in the middle of the floor 

 and then smashed open the keg of molasses 

 on top of the flour. After eating his fill 

 of this mixture he wallowed in the remain- 

 der. Then he lay down on Charcoal's bed 

 and went to sleep. 



It was just getting dark when Charcoal 

 and I returned. Charcoal, noticing that the 

 door of the cabin was open, said, 



"That old bum, Dirty Pete, has been up 

 here helpin' hisself to our grub agin." 



He stepped inside and called out, "Yes, 

 an' the old sot's drunk an' snorin' on my 

 bed. I'll poke him out with a shovel 

 handle." 



An instant later I heard a commotion 

 and a yell from Charcoal. The bear ran 

 against him and knocked him into the pud- 

 dle of flour and molasses as it rushed for 

 the door. 



That bear gave us considerable trouble 

 that fall. About once a week he would 

 break into the cabin while we were away 

 and ruin our provisions. Among other val- 

 uable assets Charcoal had an 8 gallon beer 

 keg which had been left there by some ex- 

 pert who had come out to look at the mine. 

 I knocked the top out of this keg and 

 drove a number of sharpened spikes 

 through the sides, slanting downward. 

 Then I poured about a quart of molasses 

 into the keg and set it in a place where 

 the bear would find it. 



That evening as Charcoal and I were 

 sitting in front of the cabin we saw Mr. 

 Bear up on the hill, sniffing the air with 

 his nose pointed toward the keg. He had 

 smelled the molasses, and there is nothing 

 a bear likes better than molasses. He did 

 not see us and we sat still and waited for 

 results. He walked in a line for the keg:, 

 sniffing and licking his chops as he went. 

 When he reached the keg he plunged his 

 head in after the molasses without making 

 any investigation. Charcoal shouted and 

 the bear attempted to withdraw his head, 

 but the spikes caught him. First he stood 

 on his hind feet and struck the keg with 



his paws and squealed. Then he tried to 

 back out of the keg. Then he started to 

 run. He plunged squarely against a tree 

 and forced the keg farther over his head. 

 Charcoal ran to the place and began beat- 

 ing the bear with a long handled shovel, 

 shouting between strokes, 



"Ye will git in my bed, will ye?" 

 One badly aimed blow kpocked the keg 

 off the bear's head. Charcoal ran one way 

 and the bear the other. 



Charcoal afterward caught a number of 

 bears with that trap. Nowadays these 

 beer-keg traps are used all over the West- 

 ern country. Perhaps a third of the bears 

 killed are captured in beer-keg traps. I 

 invented the trap as a matter of necessity, 

 but at that time I did not think it would 

 prove so popular. 



ADVICE TO YOUNG SPORTSMEN. 



O. L. B. 



If you wish to be a successful hunter, 

 never marry. True, a wife can be got for 

 $2.50, while a good setter pup costs $20 to 

 $25 ; but, generally speaking, the pup is 

 much the more valuable of the 2 animals. 

 To be sure, the pup may be taken with 

 rabies, and bite you ; but he won't make 

 your life miserable if you happen to wink 

 at a pretty girl, and he won't nag you if 

 you should not turn out to be a nickel 

 plated, ball-bearing saint. Heaven protect 

 and prosper the pups. 



A wife may object to washing the dishes, 

 but your dog will be only too glad of the 

 chance to perform this necessary household 

 labor. About every so often your wife 

 would want a "perfect dream of a hat," 

 and would pull down the heavens if you 

 didn't hand over the necessary dough ; 

 while for the price of this "dream" you 

 could buy 40 loaded shells which the 

 pup would gladly help you use. Your dog 

 would never ask for a hat, but would con- 

 tentedly gulp down hunks of liver, and 

 cold potatoes, and look on you as a model 

 of generosity for giving them to him. 



A dog is great company. A wife, too, 

 might be fair company if she had the time, 

 but as most of a woman's life is spent in 

 combing her hair and in studying the 

 fashion plates, the married man must go 

 to his club when he wants company, or 

 sit on the back stoop and cultivate the 

 sociability of his neighbors' chickens. 



A wife is no good as an exhibit in class 

 A. You can't call in your friends to note 

 her good points ; she would get hot too 

 quick if you should do that. You can't, 

 as you artistically distribute tobacco juice 

 over the stove, tell how she snapped up a 

 rabbit before it had made 2 jumps, after 

 you had driven the unfortunate bunny out 

 of its burrow, with a ferret. Special ad- 

 vice: Never use a ferret. The man who 



