Colorado -- Description and travel; Natural history -- West (U.S.); Rocky Mountains
One day, while wandering in the pine woods on the slope of Mt. Meeker,
I came upon two young grizzly bears. Though they dodged about as
lively as chickens, I at last cornered them in a penlike pocket of
fallen trees.
Getting them into a sack was one of the liveliest experiences I ever
had. Though small and almost starved, these little orphans proceeded
to "chew me up" after the manner of big grizzlies, as is told of them
in books. After an exciting chase and tussle, I would catch one and
thrust him into the sack. In resisting, he would insert his claws into
my clothes, or thrust them through the side of the sack; then, while I
was trying to tear him loose, or to thrust him forcibly in, he would
lay hold of a finger, or take a bite in my leg. Whenever he bit, I at
once dropped him, and then all began over again.
Their mother had been killed a few days before I found them; so, of
course, they were famished and in need of a home; but so bitterly did
they resist my efforts that I barely succeeded in taking them. Though
hardly so large as a collie when he is at his prettiest, they were
nimble athletes.
At last I started home, the sack over my shoulder, with these lively
_Ursus horribilis_ in the bottom of it. Their final demonstration was
not needed to convince me of the extraordinary power of their jaws.
Nevertheless, while going down a steep slope, one managed to bite into
my back through sack and clothes, so effectively that I responded with
a yell. Then I fastened the sack at the end of a long pole, which I
carried across my shoulder, and I was able to travel the remainder of
the distance to my cabin without another attack in the rear.
Of course the youngsters did not need to be taught to eat. I simply
pushed their noses down into a basin of milk, and the little red
tongues at once began to ply; then raw eggs and bread were dropped
into the basin. There was no hesitation between courses; they simply
gobbled the food as long as I kept it before them.
Jenny and Johnny were pets before sundown. Though both were alert,
Johnny was the wiser and the more cheerful of the two. He took
training as readily as a collie or shepherd-dog, and I have never seen
any dog more playful. All bears are keen of wit, but he was the
brightest one of the wild folk that I have ever known. He grew
rapidly, and ate me almost out of supplies. We were intimate friends
in less than a month, and I spent much time playing and talking with
him. One of the first things I taught him was, when hungry, to stand
erect with arms extended almost horizontally, with palms forward. I
also taught him to greet me in this manner.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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