214 
FOREST AND STREAM 
[Feb. 8. 1908. 
Killed by a Bear. 
iThe following account of the extraordinary 
actions of a black bear was published in Forest 
and Stream of June 22, 1907, having been sent 
to us by a Regina, N. W. T., correspondent. 
Knowing our correspondent, we had no hesitancy 
about publishing the note, but as doubt has been 
thrown on the statement we publish the account 
again with further details. Difficult as the story 
is to believe, it is true.— Editor.] 
Regina, N. W. T., Dec. 30, 1907 .—Editor 
Forest and Stream: The account I sent you of 
the killing of a man by a bear is absolutely true. 
I would not send you any thing that I could 
not vouch for. It happened at a lumber camp 
of the Red Deer Lumber Company, thirty miles 
south of Etiomami, which is a point' on the 
Canadian Northern Railroad, and the junction 
for the line which the Canadian Northern Rail¬ 
road is building to Churchill on the Hudson Bay. 
In all cases of sudden or violent deaths, it is 
our invariable custom to have a member of the 
force make independent inquiries in addition to 
any inquiries made by the coroner. I inclose 
copy of report of our constable who was sta¬ 
tioned at Etiomami, and statements taken by him 
from the two men who witnessed the tragedy. 
Knowing well as I do the general characteris¬ 
tics of the black bear, I hardly wonder that there 
are some doubting Thomases, but it is only a 
further illustration that you never can be sure 
what a wild animal will do. I know of at least 
one instance when a man was severely mauled 
by a wounded black bear, but this is the first 
instance of an unprovoked attack. 
J. H. McIllree. 
Statement of the local constable of the North 
West Mounted Police: 
“On Monday, May 19, the Red Deer team ar¬ 
rived here with the body of T. Wilson, cook of 
the Red Deer camp, thirty miles from Etiomami. 
Mr. Hammond, of the Red Deer Company, told 
me Wilson was killed by a bear on the after¬ 
noon of the 17th inst. I then took statements 
from witnesses and forwarded them to Dr. 
Hogan, coroner, Tisdale, and received warrant 
for burial on 20th inst. The bear was first 
sighted across the river by James McIntosh and 
William Heffern, who were sawing wood, and 
they ran to fetch Wilson, the cook, to see the 
bear. They stood watching the bear play across 
the river; then the bear walked into the river 
and swam across and shook himself, then made 
a rush for the three men. They all ran for the 
cook house, which was ten yards away. Wilson 
was first to get to camp, but was running too 
fast to get into the door. The bear caught him 
and gave him a claw across the neck. Wilson 
shouted and fell as if his neck was broken. Then 
McIntosh hit the bear with a pail of lard, and 
Heffern made a strike at the bear with a cant- 
hook. The bear then took Wilson in his mouth 
about five yards from the camp. Heffern and 
McIntosh ran to the sleeping camp for a revolver 
and fired ten shots into the bear, but he took 
no notice and started to take Wilson in his mouth 
to the bush about 100 yards away, and com¬ 
menced to eat him. A man named McGillias 
from the camp came along with a rifle and fired 
a hall at the bear as he was making off with 
Wilson. The bear then dropped him and fell 
himself, then got up and walked a few yards and 
fell again. The three men carried Wilson to 
the camp and went to look for the bear, but he 
had disappeared. The bear had torn off all the 
clothing, had eaten calf of left leg and part of 
the body. The men in the camp had nothing to 
defend themselves with. 
(Signed) “B. Belcher, Constable.” 
Statement of the two survivors: 
“W. Heffern, river driver for the Red Deer 
Lumber Company, was sawing wood for the com¬ 
pany with J. McIntosh and E. Heffern. I saw 
a bear across the river, and McIntosh ran to the 
cook camp to tell Wilson. We all stood and 
watched the bear playing. E. Heffern ran to 
the next camp to fetch a rifle; the bear then 
started to swim the river. When he got across 
the river he made a rush for us, and Wilson 
was first to get to camp, but was running too 
fast to get into the door. McIntosh and my 
brother ran into the camp and closed the door. 
The bear was trying to get into the camp when 
Wilson, who had run around the camp, met the 
bear and was going to rush for the door, when 
the bear felled him to the ground. The bear 
then started to eat him and I took an axe and 
struck at the bear. J. McIntosh struck the bear 
with a peavey, which he knocked a distance of 
twenty yards. J. McIntosh ran to the sleeping 
camp a few yards away and returned with a .32 
revolver and handed it to W. Heffern, who fired 
ten shots into the bear. The bear then carried 
Wilson away. E. Heffern appeared with a rifle 
and fired one shot. The bear tried to run but 
fell, and then we carried Wilson’s body to the 
sleeping camp. The bear had eaten part of the 
body. W. Heffern made a box and started to 
take the body to Etiomami. 
(Signed) “W. Heffern.” 
“James McIntosh, river driver for the Red 
Deer Lumber Company, was sawing wood 
twenty-eight miles south of Etiomami with two 
men, named E. Heffern and W. Heffern. The 
latter said, “Look at the bear across the river.” 
Then the three of us ran to the cook camp to 
fetch Wilson to look at the bear. We stood 
watching the bear while E. Heffern ran to a 
camp a mile away to get a rifle. The bear then 
started across the river, swimming, and on land¬ 
ing made a rush for them. We made a rush 
for the cook camp; Wilson ran past the door 
and McIntosh and Heffern ran into the camp 
and shut the door; the bear then was pushing 
at the door. Wilson ran round the camp right 
into the bear. The bear gave him one knock 
and he fell dead. The bear then started to eat 
him. McIntosh struck the bear with a peavey 
which the bear knocked twenty yards. Then 
McIntosh ran to the sleeping camp for a revolver 
and gave it to W. Heffern who fired ten shots 
into the bear which had no effect. The bear then 
carried Wilson away in its mouth. E. Heffern 
then arrived with the rifle and fired a shot; the 
bear dropped Wilson and tried to run but fell. 
They then carried the body of Wilson to the 
sleeping camp and undressed him and found the 
bear had eaten the calf of the left leg and part 
of the body. On search being made the bear 
could not be found. 
(Signed) “J. McIntosh.” 
Skunk Tales. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I have been much interested in the different 
views that have appeared in Forest and Stream 
relative to skunk habits. That a skunk can be ! 
carried by the tail all agree; whether harmless 
while held in that position there seems to be a 
disagreement. I knew of two instances where 
it proved disastrous and three instances where 
the skunk was carried quite a distance without 
any ill effects. 
That they can scent while held by the tail 
there is no doubt. It wholly depends on the 
individual. I have found about one in ten to 
be what we have always termed a “touchy” 
skunk; that is, when caught in a trap would 
not allow one to approach and touch the chain 
of the trap without scenting, while another 
would allow you to drag it any distance and 
would not discharge the fluid until hurt. I have 
caught several by both fore feet in traps set for 
foxes that had pitched forward into the stream 
and drowned, while in their agony they never 
left any scent. 
I am led to believe skunks never use' their 
scent as a weapon while in dispute among them¬ 
selves. I have caught six from one burrow 
during the spring months and have occasionally 
found one killed in my traps, having been bitten 
about the head and throat, but there never was 
any odor left after the fierce battle that had 
evidently taken place. I once knew a party that 
set a figure four and used a large flat stone for 
the dead fall. He caught eight during the sea¬ 
son and none of them scented; the skins could 
be handled without any odor being detected. 
The best way to get rid of one in your cellar 
or outbuildings without leaving any odor is to 
chloroform it. A neighbor brought me one in 
a nail keg he had just chloroformed. It seemed 
to be sleeping nicely, so placing it on a two- 
horse sled I drove one and one-half miles to my 
father’s farm. On arriving there I found that 
it had wholly recovered from the effects of the 
chloroform, but did not scent until turned from 
the keg and hit on the head. 
While crossing a field one moonlit night with 
a party of ’coon hunters, a skunk was sighted 
a few rods ahead. One of the young men play¬ 
fully took after it, chasing it fifty yards or more, 
when he turned and ran back closely pursued 
by the skunk which came within ten feet of us, 
stopped, put up its little head, and looked at us, 
then turned and raced away without losing any 
of its warring fluid. 
On several occasions I have had skunks chase 
my ’coon dogs to heel much to the disgust of 
the dogs which were not allowed to bark at 
them. When a skunk is pursued it runs, but 
when retreated from, it pursues. B. A. E. 
Caribou Going South. 
A dispatch to the New York Times last Sun¬ 
day from Winnipeg says the greatest herd of 
caribou ever seen in the Yukon is now head¬ 
ing southward across the head of Sixty-Mile 
River, about 100 miles west of Dawson. The 
herd has been crossing there for over three 
months and it is estimated that fully 100.000 have 
already crossed, and there is no end of the mam¬ 
moth procession in sight. 
