March 2i, tgo3,t 
FOREST AND StHEAM. 
^23 
ber, and followed them. They had been made lately 
by an old bear and its cub. I wanted the cub. 
I had gone nearly a mile when I came in sight of the 
bears. The old one lay on her back pJaying with the 
cub. This was the first female bear I had ever met, and 
1 had heard so much about the fight they would put up 
when a cub was following them that I expeceted to have 
a fight right here now. I had met the male bear often 
enough to know that he would not fight anything if he 
got a chance to run; but I thought that the tales of the 
female fighting were all gospel. This one did no fight- 
ing though. 
I was over loo yards away when I first saw the bears, 
and keeping hid I stood watching them and waiting 
for a chance to fire and not hit the cub. At last the 
old one got on her feet, and as she did so I let drive 
at her head and missed her clean, and in two seconds 
after she was going off as fast as her legs could carry 
her, never stopping to do any fighting or see if her 
cub was following her or not. 
I got one more shot at her; it was another miss, I 
suppose; in fact, I might stand here shooting all day 
and miss. It was not the gun's fault, though. I had a 
Marlin; they don't miss if they are held right; this only 
happened to be my day for missing. 
I ran down to get the cub before he would follow 
his mother, and found him with his hindquarters 
shoved in under a fallen tree. Taking him by the neck, 
I dragged him out, while he kept making a little whin- 
ing noise, and when I took him in my arms he shoved 
his head inside of my shirt bosom, but did not offer to 
bite or scratch me; he was too j^oung yet; just the kind 
of a cub I wanted. I could not follow his mother and 
carry him, and did not want to leave him; so I waited 
■for the next two hours thinking that she would come 
back looking for her cub; but she did not; I must have 
scared her clear out of the country, for I hunted the 
country all over half a dozen times after this, but never 
saw her tracks again. 
I carried my bear up home, then put a small leather 
collar on him and tied him out on a horse lariat, giving 
him an empty flour barrel and an old blanket to sleep 
on. We had no fresh milk in that country then; the 
cows were there, plenty of them, but they were Texas 
cows; no one would try to milk them; so I got a can 
of condensed milk, and taking half of it, mixed it with 
warm water, then put it in a pan and proceeded to 
teach the bear to eat, just as I used to teach my young 
dogs Avhen I would get one only two weeks old. I 
dipped a pocket handkerchief in the milk, then put it 
in the cub's mouth; he tried to eat it. Next, shoving 
his nose in the pan, I held it there while he got the 
pan emptied in short order; then he licked it clean; then 
he upset it to see where the milk came from. 
I gave him bread and milk for his next meal, then 
cut the milk out of his bill of fare, giving him bread 
soaked in beef soup. This seemed to suit him just as 
well; in fact, I found out in a short time that the bear 
would eat anything a hog would eat. I had been 
afraid that I vi^ould not be able to raise him. I need 
not have worried about that; he could raise himself. 
After he had got to be of some size all I gave him was 
a loaf of bread, 20 ounces, twice a day. He would eat 
the whole loaf seated on his tail with the bread held in 
his forepaws. He ate all the sugar he could get; and 
a pound of mixed candy would last him about five 
minutes. I fed him but little meat, and tried to keep 
fresh beef aAvay from him; but I could not keep others 
from giving it to him. I was afraid if he got much of 
it that when he grew up I might not be able to manage 
him. He never got beyond my control, though. 
He had not been tied on the rope long before he be- 
gan to eat it, and I had to get a chain. I had no chain 
light enough, so I got about a dozen old side-line 
chains and made him a chain out of these twenty feet 
long. 
The barrel he lived in furnished him his principal 
amusement: he would spend hours on top of it rolling 
it until it happened to roll out of reach of his chain, 
then he would sit and whine until his barrel was 
brought back to him. We could handle him even after 
he had got to be a year old; he got so much handling 
that he never became dangerous. The only one I 
ever knew him to hurt was a little trumpeter, and I did 
not whip the bear when he did it, either. This boy I 
warned to keep out of the bear's reach. I knew that he 
would play some trick on the bear, then get hurt for it. 
I heard a yell from him one afternoon, and on going 
out found that the bear had him laid out; he had spit 
tobacco in the bear's face, and before he could get out 
of the bear's reach the bear let him have it. The hos- 
pital steward patched up the boy's face where the bear's 
paws had laid it open, and ever after that I never had 
to tell the boy to keep away from the bear — one dose was 
a cure. 
I left the post before the bear was quite two years 
old, and soon after this they had to kill him. He soon 
missed me and the dub I whipped him with, then went 
on the warpath, they told me. Cabia Blanco. 
A Kadiak Bear* 
There was shown at the New 'York office of the Win- 
chester Repeating Arms Company, last week, a bear skin 
which was contemplated with awe by a large number of 
interested and deeply impressed visitors. It was of a 
Kadiak bear, killed by Mr. Chas. A. McLennan, of Nome, 
in northwestern Alaska. The figures given were: Length, 
II feet 7 inches; breadth, 11 feet 3 inches; circumference, 
48 feet 6 inches. Commodore Sanford found it necessary 
to rearrange his office furniture to make room for the 
outspread rug into which the skin has been converted. 
The story that goes with the skin is that Mr. McLennan 
was passing along the trail toting a pack and a Win- 
chester rifle, when the apparition of this hear as big as a 
meeting house uprose before him with a woof. A single 
ball from the '95 model Winchester, .30-40, passing in on 
one side, through the heart, and out on the other side, 
was the only ammunition used in reducing the monster to 
possession. The bear was a male. The weight was given 
as 2,275 pounds, but it could not be learned whether this 
was claimed to be actual weight or estimated weight 
Two cubs were with the old one and were killed; the 
mother could not be found. 
How thel Captives Sleep. 
^ The writer, who received permission to visit the 
Central Park Zoo late at night in order to note the 
different positions in which animals and birds rest, ob- 
served some curious things. To any one fond of nat- 
ural history such a visit is most interesting. 
In the lion house the lioness was lying on her left 
side at full length, while the Hon, couchant, rested his 
head on his crossed forepaws, his hindlegs being half 
drawn under him, and the tail curled in toward the 
body. 
The pumas, tigers and leopards were all resting on 
their sides, in nearly every case lying on the right side. 
The hyenas — ^pariahs and scavengers of the forest — 
rested with their hindlegs drawn uiider them, the fore- 
legs stretched out, with heads slightly bent to the right. 
Nearby the two-horned rhinoceros was lying at full 
length on his left side, gently snoring. The hippo- 
potami showed only their heads and backs above the 
water. 
No longer looking for peanuts, the elephants lay 
stretched out on the floor, their huge legs lying out 
at full length and the trunk curved under the body. 
They were all resting on their right side. Close by, in 
the deer house, the different deer had all crouched low 
for their rest, with forelegs bent under them and the 
hind ones drawn up, while the head was turned to 
the right and rested on the side of the body. 
The oryx, with its long horns, was resting with its 
head away from the body, the horns making an arch 
over the shoulders. The alpaca simply looked like a 
large ball of black wool. The camels lay on their 
stomachs, with their fore and hindlegs bent under 
them, while their heads and necks were stretched 
straight out. 
The monkeys were squatting about their cages, their 
heads boAved down over their chests, the arms resting 
on the thighs of the hind ones. A baby monkey was 
sleeping cuddled up in the arms of its mother, its 
little eyes peering out inquisitively at the midnight 
visitors. In the smaller animal house, given up almost 
entirely to civet cats, 'possums and such like, every ani- 
mal had curled itself up into the smallest possible 
space, burying the nose under the stomach, with all 
the paws drawn up close to the body. The bears were 
resting in various positions, some lying out at full 
length, others curled up. The two polar bears were 
huddled up in a heap, with their noses buried deep in 
their white fur, and forepaws crossed over the eyes. 
The llamas, zebus and American buffalo were rest- 
ing as cows rest, with their forelegs drawn under them 
and their hind ones drawn in. The porcupine was lying 
on its stomach, its head bent to the left, with the quills 
standing out in every direction. The emu was resting 
with the first joints of its legs on the ground, the 
body a short distance above and its head buried in the 
plumes. 
Most of the birds were resting on their perches, their 
legs bent under them and their heads tucked under a 
wing — in every case the right one. The parrots had 
only drawn their necks in, while the pelicans slept 
squatting on the ground, their heads drawn well back 
and their ponderous bills resting on their breasts. 
Sleepy Grass and its Effect on Horses 
In a recent number of Science appears the following 
description of this plant and its effect on horses : 
In the Pecos Valley of New Mexico a year ago, a 
ranchman told me of a strange kind of grass found in 
the Sacramento Mountains west of there which, from its 
peculiar elfect on horses is called "sleepy grass." He 
described it as differing from the locoes' in merely putting 
horses into a deep sleep without other symptoms of 
poison. 
The story had a far-away sound and made little impres- 
sion at the trine, but last September, as I was traveling 
along the crest of the Sacramento Mountains, it came 
back to me with a new interest. 
We had made camp one evening in a beautiful park, 
bordered with spruces and firs, and covered with tall grass 
that, with its green base leaves and ripe heads loaded 
with heavy rye-like grain, offered a tempting feast to our 
hungry animals. The moment saddles and harness were 
off, the horses were eagerly feeding. A few minutes later 
a passing ranchman stopped his team and called over to 
us: "Look out there! Your horses are getting sleepy 
grass,'' and added, "If they get a good feed of that grass 
you will not get out of here for a week." We were not 
prepared to spend a week in that locality, but I was 
anxious to test the grass, so let the horses feed for a half 
hour, then brought them up for their oats and picketed 
them in some short grass on a side hill well out of reach 
of the sleepy grass. 
The following morning, just after sunrise, the cook 
called my attention to the attitude of one of the team 
horses, saying there was "sure something the matter with 
old Joe." The horse was standing on, the side hill, asleep, 
his feet braced wide apart, head high in air, both ears 
and under lip dropped, a most ridiculous picture of pro- 
found slumber. The other horses apparently had not 
eaten as much of the grass as old Joe, for they were mere- 
ly dozing in the morning sun and showed signs of life in 
an occasional shake of the head or switch of the tail. At 
breakfast time the others woke up to a keen interest in 
their oats, but old Joe, after being dragged to camp much 
against his will, preferred to sleep rather than eat, and after 
pulHng back on the rope all the way down to the spring, 
refused to drink or even lower his head to water. My 
little saddle mare showed the least signs of the general 
stupor, so dropping behind with her, I woke the others 
up pretty thoroughly and brought them into camp on a 
lope. Later, when in the harness, the team traveled along 
steadily with some urging, but when we reached Cloud- 
croft and left the horses in front of the store while get- 
ting suppHes, their heads drooped and for an hour they 
slept soundly. Even my nervy little mare did not move 
from her tracks, but stood with drooping ears, paying no 
attention to the unusual surroundings and stir of a town. 
On starting again the saddle horses responded to the 
spurs with worried switches of the tail quite different 
from their usual manner, while the team paid no greater 
attention to the whip. For the rest of the day our pro- 
gress was slow, notwithstanding which the driver called 
my attention to the fact that the team, and especially old 
Joe, were sweating profusely. Our saddle horses would 
sigfi with relief when allowed to stop for a moment, and 
we had many a good laugh at the flapping ears of ray 
companions horse— a large-eared, raw-boned cayuse. 
which seemed to have lost all control of her usually 
erect ears. 
That night we camped in another park-like valley where 
sleepy grass was abundant, but took care to picket the 
horses out of reach of it. They were hungry and all be- 
gan to feed eagerly, but old Joe soon stopped, braced his 
feet and relaxed into forgetful slumber. The next morn- 
ing when we went to bring them in for their grain all 
were fast asleep. 
The stupor lasted about three days, and was too evi- 
dent to be attributed to weariness or natural indisposi- 
tion We were making easy trips and the horses were in 
good condition. After it wore off they showed their 
usual spirit and energy, as well as appetite. The only 
alter-etfect was a gaunt appearance, apparently resulting 
trom lack of energy to get their usual amount of grass. 
Uld Joe had even refused his grain for about half the 
time. 
It should be remembered that our horses had but a 
small amount of the grass. The ranchman told us that 
other travelers coming into the country had been obliged 
to camp for a week while their horses slept off the effect 
01 a good feed of it, and while its effects usually lasted 
for a week or ten days, it did no more serious damage 
than to leave the animals thin from fasting. Stories were 
told of horses being lost in the mountains and found sev- 
eral days later in the bushes near camp fast asleep 
1 have offered no real proof that this particular species 
of grass IS what affected our horses. They undoubtedly 
ate a dozen other species of grass, as well as some other 
plants, every day while we were in the mountains. But 
alter our experience 1 am inclined to give credit to the 
uniform statements of the ranchmen in regard to it All 
agree on the species, on its effects, and to the fact that 
alter one good dose of sleepy grass horses will never 
touch It again. This latter statement has ample proof. 
Morses and cattle are ranging in many of the valleys 
where [t grows m abundance, untouched and full of ripe 
seed while the other grasses are cropped close all around Tt. 
1 did not see horses or cattle touch it except in the case 
of our own animals and the team of another traveler from 
the valley, all of which ate it eagerly. They ate both the 
base leaves and the heads that were full of ripe seeds. I 
shelled out and ate a handful of the seeds, but without 
noticeable effect. The ranchmen generally agree that it is 
the leaves which produce the sleepiness. 
I did not hear that cattle were affected by it, but they 
certainly avoid it, as many were grazing near where it 
stood untouched. < 
While this experience was new to me, I find that sleepy 
grass has long been known to botanists as such, or tech- 
nically as Stipa vaseyt. Something has been known of its 
effects on: horses, but apparently its chemical properties 
have not yet been determined. Vernon Bailey. 
That Western Tornado. 
Wymore, Neb., March 7.— Editor Forest and Stream: 
1 have just read the account, from the pen of "More 
Anon of the ducks killed by a storm in Currituck 
bound, and am amazed as well as interested. I am in- 
clined to doubt the reliability of your correspondent. In 
the first place, he says "The Sound was visited by a 
geriume western tornado." How could a "western" tor- 
nado visit Currituck Sound ? And if so, would it still be 
a western tornado? Now notice this statement in the 
same article: 'Ducks of all kinds are still abundant at 
L-urntuck. Now if that was a genuine western tornado, 
why did It not kill all the ducks in the Sound? Would 
a genuine western tornado go around picking out a few 
redheads? Verily not. Your correspondent has never 
been west ; he is writing about things he never saw and 
knows nothing about. Again, he says : "There is another 
change m our new laws which I think Avill help to keen 
our ducks with us longer." Why don't he be more 
specific, and tell whether the new laws prohibit "western 
tornadoes instead of incumbering the record with state- 
ments like the following: "This is a hard story to be- 
lieve. Of course it is a hard story to believe, and it is 
not necessary_ for him to tell the readers of Forest and 
Stream that it is hard to believe. The witness questions 
his own veracity. Again you will notice that the witness 
does not claim to have seen or gathered up and eaten any 
of these dead ducks himself, but refers to a lot of people 
living within twenty miles of the Sound. Now, I want 
the names of every one of them, with their addresses- I 
don t propose to have our western tornadoes, slandered 
without making a vigorous kick. If we can't have any of 
fe?the?s ^°^'^^> l^t's have some of the 
Now, Mr. Editor, you have also e.xcited mv curiositv 
In your notes to "More Anon's" letter in reeard to the 
instance you cite of swans being drowned in a storm "in 
the same locahty." Was this a western tornado, too? 
Such things never happen in the West; our ducks can 
A. D. McCandless. 
A Fout-Leggcd Sapswcfcei-. 
W^f/J "^vi^^- "^"V"^. Freedom to Liberty m 
Waldo county, Maine, I observed a red squirrel acting 
rather strangely. He was clinging to a small sugar mapll 
tree beside the road some distance ahead. As I ao- 
proached, I stopped my horse to watch him. I soon 
earned that he had a "sweet tooth" and was tapp°nS 
trees for the sap. He had gnawed through the bark and 
clinging to a hmb was sucking the sap as it started 10 
run freely from the gash he had made. So ea-er was 
he not to lose a drop that as I drove past him Zlr 
enough that I might have hit him with'^my wSp his 
thirst for the sweet was so great that though he eyed me 
cautiously he clmig to his post and allowed me to pass b? 
very near to him. ^ " 
I had observed the chicadees tap the sugar maples for 
the sap, but this was new to me. "'ipics lor 
