Chapter 48 - The Grand Bear Hunt by Mayne Reid
The Great Grizzly
The grizzly bear (ursus ferox), the fiercest and most formidable of the ursine family, was the next to be captured and skinned.
The range of the grizzly, though wider than that of the Barren Ground bear, is still not so extensive as that of the ursus americanus. The great chain or cordillera of the Rocky Mountains may be taken as the axis of his range—since he is found throughout its whole extent, from Mexico to its declension near the shores of the Arctic Sea. Some writers have asserted that he is confined to these mountains, but that is an error. To the west of them he is encountered throughout all the countries lying between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific coast—wherever circumstances are favourable to his existence; and to the east he extends his wanderings for a considerable distance into the great plains—though nowhere so far as to the wooded countries near the meridian of the Mississippi. In these the black bear is the only forest-ranger of the family.
Woods are not the favourite haunt of the grizzly bear; and although in youth he can make a sort of scramble up a tree, when full-grown his enormous claws—always blunted at the tips—hinder him from climbing. Low bushy thickets, with open glades intervening—and especially where the underwood consists of berry-bearing bushes—are his chosen retreats. He often sallies out into the open ground; and on those prairies where grows the pomme blanche, or “Indian turnip” (psoralea esculenta), he may be seen tearing up the earth with his claws, and leaving it turned into furrows—as if a drove of hogs had been “rooting” the ground. On the bottoms of the streams he also digs up the “kamas” root (camassia esculenta), the “yampah,” (anethum graveolens), the “kooyah” (Valeriana edulis), and the root of a species of thistle (circium virginianum). Many species of fruits and berries furnish him with an occasional meal; and the sweet pods of the mesquites (species of acacia), and the cones of the piñon tree (pinus edulis) form portions of his varied larder.
He does not, however, confine himself to a vegetable diet. Like most of his kind, he is also carnivorous, and will dine off the carcass of a horse or buffalo. The latter animal, notwithstanding its enormous bulk and strength, frequently falls a prey to the grizzly bear. The long masses of hair that hang over the eyes of the buffalo, hinder it from perceiving the presence of an enemy; and, unless warned by the scent, it is easily approached. The bear, knowing this, steals up against the wind; and, when within safe distance, springs upon the hind quarters of the ruminant, and cramping it in his great claws, succeeds in dragging it to the ground. He is even able to transport the huge carcass to a considerable distance—for the purpose of concealing it in some thicket, and devouring it at his leisure.
The grizzly bear is more like to the brown bear of Europe than to any other species of the genus. His fur is long and shaggy—not presenting the even surface which characterises the coat of the black bear. It is generally of a dark-brown colour—the hair being whitish at the tips, more especially during the summer season, when it becomes lighter-coloured. The head is always of a grizzled grey; and it is this appearance that has obtained for the animal its specific name. There are brown, reddish-brown, bay or cinnamon—coloured, and white-breasted varieties of the black bear; but the Indians can distinguish all these from the true grizzly at a glance. In all of the latter, where there are white hairs intermingled with the fur, it is always observable that these odd hairs are white to the roots; whereas the hoary appearance of the grizzly is caused by only the tips of the hair being white. This characteristic is constant; and would of itself justify a distinction being made between the species; but there are many other points of greater importance. The ears of the grizzly are shorter, more conical, and set wider apart than in either the ursus americanus or arctos. His claws are white, arched, far longer, and broader than those of the other bears—their greatest breadth being across their upper surface. Underneath they are chamfered away to a sharp edge; and projecting far beyond the hair of the foot, they cut like chisels when the animal strikes a blow with them. His huge paw is both broader and longer than that of other bears; while his tail, on the other hand, is short and inconspicuous—being completely buried under the fur of his buttocks. So characteristic is this appendage for its extreme shortness, that it is a standing joke among the Indians—when they have killed a grizzly bear—to desire any one unacquainted with the animal, to take hold of its tail!
This appendage in the ursus americanus and ursus arctos is conspicuous enough; and in the Barren Ground bear is still longer than in either.
There could be no possibility of mistaking an old or full-grown grizzly for any of the kindred species. Both in size and aspect he is different. It is only in the case of young or half-grown specimens where a mistake of this kind is likely to be made. The enormous size of the old males—often weighing 1,000 pounds, and quite equalling the largest individuals of the ursus maritimus—renders them easy of identification; though it is certain that under favourable circumstances the ursus arctos often attains to a similar bulk.
In ferocity of disposition, however, in carnivorous inclination, and in strength and power to carry out his mischievous propensities, no bear, not even the ursus maritimus, appears to be a match for this monster of the Rocky Mountains. The hunter never thinks of attacking him, unless when assisted by a number of his comrades; and even then it may be a fatal encounter for one or more of them. Were it not for the advantage obtained by their being mounted on horseback, the grizzly would always have a wide berth given him: but fortunately this fierce quadruped is unable to overtake the mounted hunter—although he can easily come up with a man on foot.
As to fearing or running away from a human antagonist, the younger grizzlies may sometimes do so; but when an old male has been attacked the case is quite different. A full-grown individual will stand his ground against a crowd of assailants—charging from one to the other, and showing fight so long as there is breath in his body.
The number of Indian and white hunters, who have either been killed or badly mutilated by grizzly bears, is almost incredible. Were it not that these men are usually mounted on good horses the list would have been still greater; and his intended victims often find another means of escaping from his claws—by taking to a tree.
Fortunate it is that nature has not bestowed upon the grizzly the power of tree-climbing; else many a pursued hunter, who has succeeded in gaining the branches of a friendly cottonwood, might have found his refuge anything but a secure one.
In fact, climbing into a tree—when one can be reached—is the common resource of all persons pursued by the grizzly bear; and by this means did our hunters themselves escape from a brace of infuriated grizzlies, while engaged in hunting these formidable animals.