X 
THE BEAR 
351 
roughness of colour. I have heard the question 
frequently discussed when in the Big Horn range 
of the Rocky Mountains in Wyoming ; some of the 
professional hunters term all bears grizzlies, while 
others deny the existence of the true grizzly except 
upon the Pacific slope. 
There is no doubt that all the American bears 
will eat flesh whenever they can obtain it, although 
they do not pursue animals as objects for food. The 
usual custom in bear-shooting is to kill a black-tail 
deer and to leave the body untouched. If this 
course is pursued throughout the day, three or four 
deer may have been shot in various localities, and 
these will lie as baits for the bears. 
At daybreak on the following morning the hunter 
visits his baits, and he will probably find that the 
bears have been extremely busy during the night 
in scratching a hole somewhat like a shallow grave 
or trench, in which they have rolled the carcase ; 
they have then covered it with earth and grass, and 
in many cases the bears may be discovered either 
in the act of working, or having completed their 
labour, they may be lying down asleep half gorged 
with flesh, and resting upon their own handiwork. 
In this position it is not difficult to obtain a 
shot. 
When I was in the Big Horn range in 1881 
several shooting parties had preceded me on the 
two previous seasons, and the bears had been 
worried to such an extent that they were extremely 
cautious and wary. There was a small party of 
