The Grizzly, Our Greatest Wild AnimalMills, Enos A.
Philosophy
The Grizzly, Our Greatest Wild Animal
Mills, Enos A.
Grizzly bear
The men never teased Miss Grizzly nor attempted to teach her any tricks.
Consequently her disposition was uniformly of the best. She enjoyed
cartwheeling and liked to have the men start her with a little push down
the slope near the mill. Curling her nose behind her toes, she rolled
over and over. Occasionally she climbed upon the flat-roofed lumber-shed
for the fun of rolling off. While she did much climbing over the logs
and lumber-piles and on the low roofs, she did not attempt to climb a
tree after the first few weeks she was at the mill.
She was never chained and she rambled about wherever she liked. She
spent most of her time at the sawmill or close to it. Occasionally she
followed one of the loggers off into the woods. Sometimes by the hour
she would lie near where he was working, interested in the flying chips.
Sometimes she would go off on a little hunting-excursion, tear an old
stump to pieces, or overturn rocks in search of ants and grubs. One day
a tree in falling sent a shower of limbs all about Miss Grizzly, one of
them apparently striking her. She was not injured, but, bawling like a
frightened baby, she turned and ran for camp, and never again did she go
to the woods with the logger.
Miss Grizzly was usually fed just outside the cook-house door. She
preferred to eat in seclusion. But when especially hungry she came
boldly into the dining-room while the men were eating. Walking round the
table, she accepted whatever was offered her--and every one offered her
something.
She was fond of the teamster who arrived twice a week with supplies and
usually followed him homeward, running along behind the wagon. Now and
then she preferred to ride close to him with her nose on his shoulder,
sitting on her haunches like a big dog. Usually she went only two or
three miles and then returned promptly home, but occasionally she
lingered. One day, during her third summer at the mill, she followed the
teamster as usual but did not return until in the night. After this she
made an occasional excursion into the woods alone, sometimes being gone
a day or two. One day, after an unusually long absence, she came back
accompanied by another young grizzly.
Tracks in the dust showed that the stranger had hesitated to approach
the mill. Within two or three hundred yards of it he had reared up,
alert, as though he had scented or heard something alarming. Here and
there in the road Miss Grizzly had evidently turned back to reassure
him. Both finally came within a short distance of the mill, when at the
appearance of one of the men the strange bear turned and fled.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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