TJIK Jil;A(;K BEAK. 



595 



'And killed. In l^rowii County, bears are recorded as late as 1836 

 and doubtless were found later. M. W. Gregory states that he and 

 three other persons still living- partook of the meat of a bear killed 

 near IMartinsville in 1837, after a long chase, during which the bear 

 crossed White River seven times. 



Habits. — Although the bears belong to the order of carnivorous 

 animals, they do not restrict themselves to a flesh diet. During the 

 summer they live principally on berries and other fruits, together 

 with roots and tender plants, supplementing this vegetable matter 

 with insects, fish, mice, frogs and a great variety of other matter. 

 A number of correspondents tell stories of bears carrying away 

 hogs. They usually give no dates, but I suspect this usiuilly occurs 

 in the spring when the animals have but recently come forth from 

 the winter's fast. 



In their search for insects and other smaller animals, the bears 

 use their powerful feet and long claws, tearing up stumps and old 

 logs and overturning rocks with ease. They are also experts at 

 fishing and in the rivers of the Northwest, w^here the salmon run, 

 they live exclusively on these fish at certain seasons and become very 

 fat. 



As a rule, bears are not dangerous to human life and they can 

 generally be frightened away. Dr. U. H. Farr, of Paragon, relates 

 two adventures which his mother had with a bear in Morgan County 

 in the period about 1830. On one occasion she and her sister were 

 hauling maple sap from trees to a camp, with an old mare hitched 

 to a sled. The horse became frightened and on looking for the cause 

 the girls espied a large bear coming into the clearing. They both 

 climbed on the horse and, lashing her into a run, made for camp, 

 tearing the sled to pieces on the stumps and hummocks. Their 

 father started in pursuit of the bear which was killed next day. On 

 another occasion, the same girl was crossing a bayou on a log foot- 

 bridge some distance from any habitation ; chancing to hear a noise, 

 she looked down the creek just in time to see a large bear rearing 

 up on some logs to look at her from the distance of a few rods. She 

 was much frightened but began to clap here hands and halloo. At 

 first the bear paid no attention but at the third sh'uit h? turned 

 around and started slowly away. 



Dr. S. .C. Richardson also relates several incidents which came 

 within his personal knowledge when a boy in southern Indiana; 

 his experiences reach back to 1828. On one occasion when returning 

 home with his mother at dusk, they came upon a full-grown bear 

 in a path in the woods. ]\Irs. Richardson was a strong, courageous 



