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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (May 21, 1922)
J1 - : i . J. . ' . . . . ' p -it. It t ' . 1i MM ;Sunday.;May'21;,1922 ' 1 T f i- rrum 1 si f 1 IIM tl I, ... By R. Brace Horsfafl ' J TOLD yon twwit my baax-fieht, said ttx old-timer when the tender foot returned . after, hla first experience with a- black bear, for. tfeei bear was a mother : with cubs, and the . experienced man leaves such bears strictly alone un less hs has an-adequate supply of fire arms. A mother bear, If she thinks her cubs are In danger, will fight savagely, though a-blow from her good forearm is all that ' any enemy needs. The bear hug so often used In speech has no foun dation in fact However, if a bear . is given a fair chance s she will leave you entirely- alone. As an Illustration in point, John Lee likes to tell of an expe rience which he and, a fellow Maxama had while on a hike. , The two men sud denly discovered a mother," bear and two . cubs in a- berry patch not- over 40 feet distant. Mother bear! Immediately sig naled her. babies to scamper -up the hill toward the trees and; safety, rwhlle ..she calmly; awaited the next ':. move t' by the men; as 'there was ,mone,T because both men knew enough to stand perfectly still, she Ambled -of f after " her, cubs- A. G. Jackson of the Ignited .States for est service had quite , another 'experience. As he was walking quietly along a forest path he saw: a mother .'bear and one Cub, Just across the creek, scratching an. old - log to pieces to get "the California terr mites In 1U hear. ;lNot "deeming himself in any .danger,, he stooS .watching her -until she spied him.' Then she gave,one woof" " an d rushed '. across a ; fallen ; log toward, Jackson, who, of course, prudent ly retireated a shorty-distance. Mother Bear -came bo farther than the tree under '. -'which" he had been standing,. and the'se- cret ' was revealed. , Away tip . In; thm - branches was another cub. . r ;:" Black bears are'quite like humans, they PMroughlyanJoyeWoksnveuaothej - -i: vr.- - -.- v--t' :.:-r-'- o. o-: ;-x (ft :':ft:W:'iS:i; - v V ... and rarely resent one on, themselvea; but -you never can tell from their expressions ; of what they are thinking. We ate ac customed to think of them as pugnacious, but they are much more likely to . be -friendly. ! . I 1 I remember one fine old fellotr,- that made my hair stand on end for time. It happened while we were photograph ing bears in the Yellowstone: . I haid pre viously fed sugar to a mother btar-or two that the hotel . people had .tjld . us were not to be depended. upon for temper, and had not felt the least bit nervous. But this time we had gone to.thejjdump behind the hotel and were getting pic tures of the bears at their dinner, hen a most superb specimen appeared, , His coat was six or eight Inches longjj and. a silky, glossy black. -I have never seen a finer bear. Instead of going over and feeding with the other .bears he 4llor ately walked over , toward a woman . on- looker, who, of course, did not lik it; one , bit and backed away. Then I tried to shoo him off and . succeeded .in turning him aside by throwing a piece of, biscuit ahead of him. "After awhile we went ; round to' where he was lying- fn he;tall grass. It wu planned that L was to try to feed him from -mr, hand while he. had c his picture taken, but when, that enor mous head rose toward .:My piecef of:bis-, cult rose as high as ray shoiilde'r.-wlth- v out the bear-getting-ononis feet I believe , ' that every, hair, on my head stopdup lika : . i iih iiuiii nn w ri sa nsrv rtw t- iiimii:. imii ri . nin. anA h'nlv: n Kfart1f trh.lUnlKl .k- . t a..i. .:a r . y .-- . - biscuit, but Brum couidnTt stand fprhat If and fled. We - afterward; learneW that Mi afterward learnd that m"P"' tha genuest pet ate . from thV scrtpheap; 1 ay,inablli,lto -.clim: treea,;,., r "Old King" was all and seldom-ate . because he- was too .well fed by-shls friends In the , hotel kitchen. A S A contrast, , let me relate oulj, 1xperi-, 'ence with the grizzliesVatrthis 'same ; - hotels .Although 'we t had -. been i tod vthat 1 k uiey votui' mot1; come; oeroreoarsv we i IE , h A . ' . n I A . A v. K A f ' bears'- drlfte - moved around a away 'oria-hyXoev sMfciwi4 i"fW"iWTr' so as to be nearer ;,tha -? grindingmolars wholly1 unlike the molars N " arbacstHOimtplncresskdB i v t 4 about 60 feei off,, when, at; twilight, out .trom.the oppjosite side of the 'open -space, with plglikej grunts,? i crashed four, griz zlies,' probably: a male, . a mother and two cubs.. ?what an anxious. mother she was- Silyer-ltips are .4nuch 'more nervous in temperament than 'the blacks, and this particular! mbther rushed back and forth, ; grunting, groaning and whooping like a ' score' of mad bulla f.We, no longer won idered at thejblackles leaving the field to s her. - This mother's gait was a, jumping tgallop, t hum pety,-thump, thump"; quite a different ,'frojm the black bear's shuffling M lope. frpHE gr often I called silve i-tip,- is I. . " a f iim 11 4r a nao raf n7 ' wnAif-vttttfiVAil creature, jbu very prompt to resent an in-, -Jury and jpublsh the offender.' JWhlle we were In Uia ; Tellowstone a grizzly', came about one of the. small shacks 1 after a piece, of bacon and was shot "at- Jt re- , turned the following'night and killed one -of the men;th other man saved himself by sliding off the bed and crawling under r " Oneeed j not lfear the grizily,; bear T whenfm th Oregon woods, as there--was jno- recorjd f ' grizzlies ; ever ! having', lived here ;1In'.iwo..years.-'as;o,j'when- a molar, tooth ,was found' on the4upper Sahtiam. and given tijji Vertion Bailey of the United i oiajesjpiotogicaij'suveyi--,-;' j l :. j and mote -spowjerful . black J hafi ' his stralghter; along. th hump ot:3ialr over 'f! ''iWA&: etralghth. accounts Bears ure classed- as vcarnivora : and, as ". such, ome!of them-can well he called -th-1 largest-carnlvoras invtejworld:; the lajas- ,kan,5' browa j bear-.-weighs- around 7- 4500 .- blackf abiout 4 QO. CiBut. this -classf icatioa . ' ; Is nlthi bisis ot soma'rtele;tal-character-J; istles, rather thanifrom' their, habits.- for- fajeyreaiiyaitemx -;-toief-r-neiiverous Izzly, "than"; Us6s it?J&'l I?'i1''thaword--root';-adTisely, I heuiif5.K 4? '.-:'' V-'SXib Jiody; isf longer and; ,they"! cHmbedjfa:jtree.'g0 5t&vbed.;;The; - r-Grizzlies-havealhaDit e 'i back, ; with 'a knot or. - ' mother had coaxed, them to the base ox ?4-:fearkrbm trees.; taking It the shoulders,. "called; aaieiiormout "white" oak.' but- there 'theyy ;aa-thev-'caiareach. 1 This' loOthecarnlvoTxmsvcafV-,wliicb, t -i 4. s s," -K Js . v . J - ting or shearing teeth. Their- herbaceous 1 -', food consists of succulent roots, grass and berries; for animal food, they scratch out , the ants, termites and wood-boring bee tles and grubs from half-rotten logs; eat- , ing, also, mice and other ground rodents.- Bears begin raising families when they attain 'three or four years of age: Gener- i ally there are two cubs at a time, born in j winter quarters. In 'JMarch- orj about" the f first of April. They are not niuch, larger -j than pine squirrels, are not weaned until 1 fall and usually spend the winter and the i following summer with the, mother.- Thus . the average mother bear takes two years to Year her : cubs. West of the Cascades in Oregon the bears do not 'hole up" for the winter to j hibernate, but sleep- away only the most ' Inclement weather, in some snug retreat. ' Theyhave a-most amusing habit of sing- lng , themselves, to sleep while . sucking their thumbs, the - ear of aj comrade, or ' anything that is handy.- A.g seemingly " i makes' no - difference in this j,habit. and ;; "while th?y are sucking they miakeia hum- :t ' mimr pound like a hive of beesi . lve seen ; j this; rwhen the? mouth was- al 'f rothy..asyf ; 1ft the bear were dreaming?; of 'ia hone'yjj; I" coa1;i! u-forest -and -was, ,;to : memoryAjji' ' licking"; the f stickiness . off i ills - -finger a They, will" follow, the scent 'of rhme'y, for-f ' .mlls,;' they- are . spfond r of vit$''swet.;v 'j J a i once.;waicaa , nonaerq oiaca- oear r, stalled backed: away and utteredjwhinlngif. j;3tttH Wlrfmpersl C8---" ; f6 nucIaasT; to' say; rph, -Mother.inot HUiat -tree; 'that , ; tree. is too Wg But Mother; BIackirwas.,.. firm. Eh .blew.a few- times through .her nose, then- cuffed one .littJei: fellow in tat CedlenerHe JbeganHp;IIimbfan aided him .with 'her .head iinrd :arrns as .- hlgh up on!the'truhk asshe;could. reach. . w&ere .ho -clung - to th : rough - Dane, ? rpr,. . dw lifev'untn the other -was ablatooiiij: h In-u - Mother ? Bear v th en . put her arms - ana ; uius, auernatery. Demg pusnea ; ana j jcHmWrig, they?.reaMrSS -llmbf about AO'i f eetV from ihV ; ground. rharemJ "fU - " '3 -t i i ?. tree; safe from all .harm, the two babies contentedly, whimpered themselves to sleep. . - - f ; j ' ' M : ''-' ' ': iV. jgVERXBODT ; likes to watch: the cap- are bo droll. - Cubs boxing and wrestling j. with each. other. are: up to alii kinds of 4 tricks and monkeyshlnes. No cage is so ,j attractive as theirs, j Our children's ' chil- i dren ought to be able to enjoy them. too. Of course, when bears are molesting stock they should be killed, but we have thousands of miles of forest that we hope will ; never be' anything, else, and it is -;i i there that omvwild life ought to. be i pre- ', served. Anything smaller than : Yellow- J stone park' is too, small to give protection, A so long as they can be shot Just' over the f border ; All of jour ljarger animals would -' wanderr"at ;times,.'beyond the confines of ". tny''park the . size of JCrater Lake1 park. . -4 I should like to s see a strip - of forest ,7 0 j miles wide and equally as , long, I the ; "hearti of the Cascade range,-Where we, ' could go, yes, -everybody could ;go,' in the summer months and 'see wild,-life un- j" afraid; . place where gun , inay not be ' j -fired; where deer sc6uld come. ;to, browse J t ' before, your camp,- bear-would 'Inlbble. the .i ; berries -from the bushes as 'one i passed along the trail,' even a cougar might doze '.. atreiched- upon'a': log as he r watched ' y ou .f saunier;pyi;.-Dui-ineyr,non i-aare, iuo.bimis uu -tnem-'afraia v of peeling the Ofras;high:iup donelnthe i spring,- when -heriating Is iiverU and.' fa some authorities ' consider it-m&totjofx exanilnaUon Xailed- to uncover any s prlorltyof .claim tO a certain' reglDn.J - And.i -other i bears : if : they r cannot 'each. tthe L mark, respect the maker's, rights and, keep r away, what happens when the mark, can.: and whole y ; f IBlack bears the same hing, only '. they seem -to - choose , tho- summer time -grapnea- TW nen ppy usea w. peei : the outer : rough ;bark from-: the-'tree and 1 ? -eatf thet inner UyerJ - rery UnderJulcy -DdMfaice-Clavor4s. when the san is running, 'andilt iooics as j , ,wer f p If Vtheyjhrere after ihe-aweety eMiabinm'j' a "layer. ; - S. Leak . of wyemihg. thua de- T now. t A. ' f -'''i' .." - - - - ' ' June, when the tree was making its first growth of the season. The accompany ing photograph J shows .where the bear having in some way learned of the nice flavor-and" excellent eating i qualities of this inner growth, has with his teeth and claws peeled off . the - outer bark. His teeth marks may be seen upon the trunk of the peeled tree, where he has scraped off the inner,f tender j pine - flavored growth." , . . ji - A tract of , several acres in Tellowstone park was so stripped and' mutilated that practically every tree was dead. It was close to a long, marshy bog which bears frequented for ; mud - baths., This bog probably j contained some mineral prop erties recognized by, the : bears as vermin' destroyers. i TTORSE3 as rulej are i instinctively afraid, of : bears, and I. had that fact brought home very -forcibly tone night in California, as we were camped under the Calaveras; grove of Sequoias. 1 Our valley i "horses had never "seen (a1 bear in their ; lives; yet they suddenly; became Very rest- : less, and stamped and snorted,and were with difficulty -quieted down again. As we 'drove I put abouttiooiti 'the' next day we ' 'found,'5 in; th dust of tho road, the foot- ' prints of a bear, and those horses snorted and pranced as long as -the bear tracks ; 1sol'letrtfe'dtV J'; 7 ' ; i Bears are suDtosed to be: verr nlentlful i ! . even' a trackof one. ' I jr'the' Ketartaci hills the - was told' that on criss-cross' tracks and .' tunnels through the ! salal brush were .made by "hear 'and; deer, yet a thor- - T fresh,.traces of either . animal, and it was -.uuiiii uiQ.i -well scuy m iuau -y ' wjh'eiqB 'but ,on '.the Oregon, and. Washlng f ton" eoast."1floes the T salal grow5 to " such Ihese tracts are '. tunnels and open "paths; ; tht)ymade. asvsuppdsed, by bears deeif T' lAnd' are" they the ', only traces left in a iregion once thickly popu lated T ..And, Like the buffalo trails across the plains,, are the to jremaln long after the animals" that: made 'them rare; gone 7 ; iWhacaa Ull? r I'ertainly found no-rs ;eit-iiack-thars; - - 'i r f'-- - s J