Bears that Did Not Attack. 
That a bear is a dangerous animal is one of 
the beliefs most firmly ingrained in American— 
perhaps in human—nature. The subject has been 
discussed pro and con in Forest and Stream for 
lo! these many years; the last time, perhaps, in 
the early spring of this year. 
That the American black bear is usually harm¬ 
less, even though wounded or defending her cubs, 
is the belief of most people of experience, but 
this view is not new. For a generation natur¬ 
alists have been endeavoring to educate the pub¬ 
lic to an estimate of this animal’s fighting qual¬ 
ities. Many years ago there lived in Springfield. 
Mass., B. Horsford. an excellent field naturalist, 
whose views on all subjects that he had ex¬ 
amined with care, were accepted by all who knew 
him. Nearly thirty years ago he wrote about the 
black bear in the following language: 
“Will a bear attack a man in defense of her 
cubs? This remainds me of a little, story. 
“ ‘My brother,’ said my informant, ‘was out 
hunting deer, and ran over a couple of cubs. 
He recollected having often heard it asserted that 
a bear would attack a fnan who should kill her 
cubs. Here was an opportunity to settle the ques¬ 
tion, and he might never find another as favor¬ 
able. He shot one cub, loaded again, and shot 
the other. Just then he heard the bushes crack. 
The old bear heard the gun. She came up to the 
cubs, smelled a moment, and looking up, dis¬ 
covered t.he man. She sprang to within six feet 
of him, stood up growling, gnashed her teeth, 
striking her paws toward him; he in the mean¬ 
time leaning on his gun, looking to see what she 
was going to do. Thinking best to reload his 
gun, he proceeded to do this, keeping one eye on 
the bear, to be sure of the very moment when 
she would “attack a man.” She went back to 
her cubs, both dead by that time, then made a 
second lunge at him, and coming a little nearer 
than before, she fairly threw froth from her 
jaws in his face. Having loaded his gun, native 
avarice overcame his love of demonstrative 
science, he presented the muzzle to her breast and 
shot her dead.’ Here again was disappointment; 
in addition to natural history spoiled by lack of 
scientific interest, and the grand question left 
again all afloat. The truth of the matter was 
this: the cubs could not run away and give the 
old bear the chance to retreat behind them as 
in the case of the ‘tattoo on the tin pail;’ she 
therefore stood up with no design to attack man, 
but to stand between her cubs and menacing 
danger, falling dead where she stood. 
“Once more: 'I was out gathering spruce 
gum,’ said my informant, ‘with a bag on my 
shoulder, and found two small cubs rooting 
around. I went for them as worth more than 
gum, thrust them into the bag. made tracks 
across a hollow and was just going out of sight 
over the hill beyond when the old bear saw me. 
I ran and she ran. Being the longer winded, she 
gained, and the distance between us grew fear¬ 
fully less. Loaded with the cubs, I was obliged 
to stop to catch breath. She came close up, and 
when I started-again I stumbled and fell.’ [Here 
I rose up on my toes to announce to the world 
that I had found a man killed by a bear.] He 
continued: ‘But ] held on to the bag—there was 
money in it—regained my feet, the old bear run¬ 
ning by my side till I reached the house. Up the 
steps I ran and slammed the door in her face. 
She knew 1 had the cubs, and didnit touch me, 
for fear of hurting them.’ Here was another 
‘just going to’ spoiled, and I got discouraged. 
The old bear was- a suppliant, not an antagonist. 
’Give me back my cubs—give me back my cubs, 
I do not want you,’ would have been her cry had 
she possessed language, and when the door was 
shut she turned sadly away. 
“A resident of my native town, a few years 
since, poured a charge of partridge shot, with 
fatal effect, into the open mouth of a bear stand¬ 
ing between him and her cubs, and, as he said, 
by a hair's breadth saved his life. 
“The next-door neighbor to my father’s house 
was kept tip a tree by a bear, whose cubs he had 
shot, a long afternoon, the bear dividing her 
time between growling at him and trying to in¬ 
duce the cubs to follow her away. At length, she 
wandering a little out of sight, he slid down the 
tree, and by good use of the legs Providence had 
given him, providentially escaped with his life. 
“An old bee hunter told me how he was chased 
out of the woods by a bear which seemed to hesi¬ 
tate when very near him, and for which he could 
not account. The fact was. the bear smelled the 
honey used in hunting bees, and only sought to 
negotiate for its possession.” 
The British Shooting Season. 
London, Aug. 20 .—Editor Forest and Stream: 
While the leasing of grouse moors and other 
garne preserves is a part of the business of most 
real estate brokers in Great Britain, sales of such 
property are not very common. Yet the owner 
of any piece of real estate on which there is 
shooting or fishing is usually prepared to lease it. 
A great land owner, who possesses a number of 
estates in different parts of the country, selects 
one of them for his own shooting and leases all 
the rest. 
In all parts of Great Britain the grouse crop 
this year is reported very satisfactory. There 
are many birds, and all are in good condition. 
This year, too, an unusual number of shootings 
have been leased by Americans. 
The grouse shooting opened Aug. 12, and will 
last until Dec. 10. The partridge season opens 
Sept. 1, and that for pheasants Oct. 1; both clos¬ 
ing Feb. 1. In a good season, there is probably 
no place in the world where such excellent shoot¬ 
ing can be had as on these preserves'. There is 
great rivalry among the different owners or 
lessees of estates to see who shall make the best 
bag, and for this reason good shots who can be 
depended on are much in demand for the shoot¬ 
ing, especially during the first days of the season. 
Reports of bags are regularly made to certain 
London journals, and there is the same ambition 
for record bags as there is among big-game 
hunters for record heads. 
On the English moors driving has become com¬ 
mon, almost to the exclusion of the use of dogs, 
but in Scotland the grouse are still hunted with 
dogs in the old fashion—a method of shooting 
which is much less destructive to the birds than 
driving; in fact, in driving, where pump guns or 
automatic guns are used, the balance in destruc¬ 
tiveness where a gun may be fired five times 
without being reloaded is obvious. People who 
own or lease shootings usually contract with 
game dealers in large cities for the sale of the bag. 
Game licenses are issued only to subjects of the 
King, and for that reason the American, who 
has leased a grouse moor or is a guest on one, 
secures his license by getting a double license 
taken out by a subject, which gives the subject 
the privilege of inviting a friend out shooting. 
A single license costs $15, but one may be taken 
out for a period less than a year. 
Among the Americans now shooting in Great 
Britain are R. S. Craig, of New York, and 
Charles Craven, of Indiana. Harry Payne 
Whitney has taken Holwick Hall in Teesdale. 
Andrew Carnegie. Mr. Whitridge and C. W. 
Ogden, pf New York, and Mr. Drexel, of Phila¬ 
delphia, are other Americans who have been at 
work on the grouse. 
The use of the automobile has opened up many 
grouse moors in the-old country which formerly 
could not find regular tenants, because situated 
in out of the way places. Moreover, when moors 
are large and are shot over on foot, it was often 
difficult in old times to cover them without an 
extremely early start and late return. This has 
all been changed by the advent of the motor car, 
and the shooting has been made much easier and 
so much more popular, since there are a multi¬ 
tude of people unwilling to do anything that re¬ 
quires much exertion. " Heather. 
Game Prospects. 
PIendersonvjlle, N. C, Sept. 7 .—Editor Forest 
and Stream: From inquiries made the promise 
for game is good. Quail are plentiful I am told, 
so also deer, and in some places the ruffed 
grouse. 
Each year as it rolls round takes me back to 
the days when the passenger pigeon came 
through this mountain country by the millions.. 
I used to look forward to October and pigeons.. 
The one came with the other and then rather- 
suddenly I thought the pigeons did not appear. 
It is singular what .became of them all. 
I never saw a flock flying north. They must 
have returned to their nesting grounds another 
way. The passenger pigeon is so very different 
from a dove that I cannot understand how it 
can be mistaken for a pigeon. Are the doves 
also to leave us? 
Nothing but sane laws sanely carried out will 
save them and others of our feathered friends. 
No man is more fond of shooting than I, but 
we should be reasonable in the amount killed. 
Ernest L. Ewbanic. 
