Book, The grizzly bear

[Gorilla king]

BOOK, THE GRIZZLY BEAR, THE NARRATIVE OF A HUNTER-NATURALIST

AUTHOR, WILLIAM H. WRIGHT, HUNTER AND NATURALIST:






From the Foreword-- The Grizzly Bear by William H. Wright, first published in 1909, is one of the best all-around books ever written on the subject. It is both highly informative and entertaining. . . . Wright began as a bear-hunter, and an extraordinarily successful one. He pitted his own strength, endurance, ingenuity, skill, knowledge, and craftiness against that of the grizzlies. . . . His most remarkable achievement as a hunter was killing five grizzlies with five shots, which he called "the greatest bag of grizzlies that I have ever made single-handed." . . . His book shows a hunter becoming a naturalist: Wright first studied the grizzly in order to hunt him, then he came to hunt him in order to study him. The Grizzly Bear treats the early history of the grizzly as recorded by the white man and the life and escapades of James Capen ["Grizzly"] Adams, and most important it recounts the true-life experiences of Wright himself. Although I have spent some eighteen years studying the grizzly, eight of them intensively, there are few points on which I would take issue with the accuracy of Wright's observations o his interpretations of what he saw--Frank C. Craighead, Jr. Frank C. Craighead Jr. is director of the Environmental Research Center, Moose, Wyoming, and teaches at the State University of New York, Albany.


books.google.com/books?id=fYg8p4WGRyIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=william+h+wright+naturalist&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiSxpCY6fr0AhWict8KHX2qDXYQ6AF6BAgHEAM

[Gorilla king]

In the beggining, i studied the grizzly in order to hunt him. I marked his haunts and his habits, i took notice of his likes and dislikes. I learned his indifferences ans his fears. I spied upon the perfection of his senses and the limitations of his instincts, simply that i might the better slay him. For many a year, and in many fastness of the hills, i pitted my shrewdness against his, ane my wariness against his, and my endurance against his. And many a time i came out winner in the game, and many a time i owned myself a loser. And then at last my interest in my opponent grew to overshadow my interest in the game. I had studied the grizzly to hunt him. I came to hunt him in order to study him. I laid aside my rifle. It is twelve years since i have killed a grizzly.

[Gorilla king]

This is the early history section, so Wright was just quoting The Lewis and Clark expedition.

There is no chance of killing them by a single shot unless the ball goes through the brain, and this is very difficult on account of two large muscles which cover the side of the forehead and the sharp projection of the centre of the frontal bone, which is also "thick"

[Gorilla king]

Naturalist George Ord, who formally described and named the grizzly "Ursus horribilis Ord" said this:

"This animal is the monarch of the country which he inhabits. The African lion or the tiger of Bengal are not more terrible or fierce"

[Gorilla king]

Quote from Grizzly Adams:

The grizzly he says, is "the monarch of American beasts, and, in many respects, the most formidable animal in the world to be encountered. In comparison to the lion of Africa and the tiger of Asia, though these may exhibit more activity and bloodthirstiness, the grizzly is not second in courage, and excels them in power. Like the regions which he inhabits, there is a vastness in his strength which makes him a fit companion for the monster trees and rocks of the sierras, and places him, if not the first, at least in the first rank of all quadrupeds."

[Gorilla king]

1909: A THOUSAND-POUNDER, HALF AS BROAD AS HE WAS LONG.

[Gorilla king]

1909: GRIZZLIES FEEDING

[Gorilla king]

But no amout of labor seems to daunt them. I have seen many such holes that were from eight to ten feet deep and twelve or fifteen feet long, where one or more grizzlies had thus dug for a nest of marmots.

[Gorilla king]

1909: HIS SUSPICIONS AROUSED:

[Gorilla king]

1-HIND FOOT OF A BLACK BEAR
2-HIND TRACK OF A BLACK BEAR, 8 × 4 INCHES

3-HIND FOOT OF A GRIZZLY BEAR
4-HIND TRACK OF A GRIZZLY BEAR, 10 × 5.5 INCHES

[Gorilla king]

1909: FEMALE GRIZZLY AND THREE CUBS:

[Gorilla king]

GRIZZLY BEAR CUB-12 HOURS OLD:

[Gorilla king]

MALE BEAR MAULS AND POUNDS TO DEATH A LARGE FEMALE GRIZZLY THAT WAS CAUGHT IN A TRAP. THE HEAD OF THE FEMALE WAS SO CHEWED UP THAT WAS UNRECOGNIZABLE.

[Gorilla king]

All my observations, as i say, had led me to believe that a free male grizzly will, if he gets a chance, kill his young cubs.

[Gorilla king]

I AM INCLINED TO BELIEVE THAT IN THE WILD STATE GRIZZLIES DO NOT USUALLY REACH  FULL MATURITY UNTIL SOMEWHAT LATER. I HAVE WATCHED SEVERAL THAT INHABITED CERTAIN LOCALITIES, AND THEY, I AM SURE, DID NOT REACH THEIR FULL GROWTH UNDER 8 YEARS.

[Gorilla king]

I have already described how a grizzly bear dragged a bull elk carcass up an incline so steep that it was next to impossible for a man to climb up or down without hanging to the bushes for support. The elk's body could not have weighted less than five or six hundred pounds, yet the bear seemed to have transported it with ease, and, after placing it behind a large tree and in under the low hanging branches, he dug out a hole in the side of the hill and, dragging up logs and brush, covered the carcass completely.

[Gorilla king]

WHEN IT BECOMES NECESSARY, OR WHEN HE THINKS IT IS NECESSARY, THERE IS NO ANIMAL OF HIS SIZE THAT CAN PUT UP A FIGHT TO EQUAL HIM.

[Gorilla king]

1878: ENGLISH SPORTSMAN VISITED COLORADO IN SEARCH OF BIG GAME. " THOUGH AT LEAST ONE-HALF OF THE STORIES CURRENT IN AMERICA AS TO THE FEROCITY OF THE GRIZZLY BEAR DO NOT DESERVE CREDIT, YET HE MUST BE REGARDED AS BY FAR THE MOST FORMIDABLE OF THE WILD ANIMALS IN AMERICA"

[Gorilla king]

HE IS THE ONE WILD ANIMAL OF OUR WILDERNESS THAT OWNS NO NATURAL OVER-LORD. WITH THE EXCEPTION OF MAN HE  DEIGNS TO RECOGNIZE NO ENEMY. AND IF HE IS NOT, AS HE WAS ONCE THOUGHT, THE BLOODTHIRSTY AND TYRRANOUS AUTOCRAT OF HIS VAST DOMAIN, HE IS NONE THE LESS ITS MASTER.

TO MY MIND, HE REMAINS THE GRANDEST ANIMAL OUR COUNTRY KNOWS.

[oldcyansilverback]

Reply 4. A tiger and lion while more predatory and territorial, they are outclassed by a male grizzly when it comes to brute strength. The grizzly’s courage is also top class generally (although some specimens might be more timid than others - like the seven dwafts).