BEARS. 
17 
Distribution. 
Habits. 
10 feet, while a third was still larger. Unfortunately the length from the nose to 
the root of the tail is not given, but it is probable that in large specimens this must 
be close on 9 feet. 
We have already seen that the grizzly is found from Alaska 
to Mexico; and it may be added that from east to west it reaches 
from the Coast Range across the Sierra Nevada to the Big-Horn Range in 
Wyoming, and some distance on to the plains at its foot. Its distribution is, how¬ 
ever, becoming gradually more and more restricted. In 1868 bears were to be 
found on the plains for several hundred miles eastward of the Big-Horn, but they 
are now rare even in that range itself. Similarly, they have greatly diminished 
in numbers in Southern California and the parallel valleys of the Coast hills 
further to the northward. 
That the grizzly bear will eat flesh whenever it has the chance 
is admitted by all, but there is some discrepancy of opinion as to 
whether it ever kills large mammals for the sake of their flesh. Thus while Sir 
Samuel Baker denies that they ever do so, Dr. Rainsford relates a case where his 
hunter saw a grizzly attack one of three bisons. Wherever wapiti are abundant 
there will grizzly bears be found. Failing meat, they, according to Dr. Rainsford, 
thrive on nuts, acorns, etc.; “ and,” he says, “ the fattest grizzlies I ever killed were 
those that had been feeding for weeks on the pine-nuts that the mountain squirrels 
stow away in such great plenty in the little colonies on the upper hillsides. 
Where the nut-pine is plentiful, you may also expect to find bears.” The grizzly 
is a bad climber, and seldom resorts to trees at all. Its strength is, however, 
prodigious. One has been seen to break the neck of a tall bison with a single 
blow of its paw; another has bodily carried off, over very rough ground, a male 
wapiti, weighing nearly 1000 lbs. 
Sir Samuel Baker states that a frequent practice in bear-shooting is to kill 
several deer, and leave them untouched on the ground as baits. “ 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 some¬ 
what 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 dis¬ 
covered either in the act of working, or, having completed their labour, they may 
be found lying down asleep, half gorged with flesh.” 
In the northern part of its range the grizzly bear hibernates, but it is probable 
that in the south it remains active throughout the winter. When it first comes 
out in the spring, it has a habit of standing upright against a pine or other 
tree and scoring its bark with its claws. Very incorrect conclusions have been 
drawn from these marks as to the size of the bears by which they were made, 
it having been forgotten that the animals were generally standing on from three 
to five feet of snow when they thus scored the trees. 
The grizzly has been accredited with extreme ferocity towards man; but, 
granting that its great strength and extreme tenacity of life make it a most 
formidable foe when brought to close quarters, Dr. Rainsford is inclined to think 
that there has been considerable exaggeration on this point, and many of the stories 
of these animals charging is due to their rolling downhill upon the hunter who 
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