The Western World: Picturesque Sketches of Nature and Natural History in North; and South AmericaKingston, William Henry Giles
History
The Western World: Picturesque Sketches of Nature and Natural History in North; and South America
Kingston, William Henry Giles
Natural history -- North America; Natural history -- South America
The grizzly varies much in colour. Sometimes his fur is of a dullish
brown, freckled over with grizzly hairs; while other specimens are
entirely of a steely grey. In all cases, the grizzly hairs give a
somewhat white appearance to the surface of the fur. When the animal is
young, his fur is of a rich brown, and often very long and thick, and
much finer than that of the adult animal. When the creature walks, he
swings his body in an odd fashion, rolling his head, at the same time,
from side to side, which gives him a remarkably awkward look. Although
the grizzly occasionally satisfies himself with vegetable diet, he will
also attack and devour any animals he can kill. He does not hesitate to
assault the powerful bison; and on overtaking a herd, he will spring
without hesitation on the largest bull, and, with the tremendous strokes
of his powerful paws, speedily bring it to the ground, when he will
without difficulty drag the enormous carcass off to his lair, to devour
it at his leisure. All other animals stand in awe of the grizzly; and
even the largest pack of hungry wolves will not venture to attack him,
nor indeed will they touch his carcass after he has succumbed to the
rifle of the hunter. Horses especially are terror-stricken when they
scent or see a grizzly; and not until they have been carefully trained,
will they even allow the skin of one to be placed on their backs.
The grizzly employs his claws both in digging for roots and in burying
any large animal he may have killed, to preserve the carcass till he
requires it for another meal. An anecdote is given of a hunter who,
pursued by one of these monsters, took advantage of this propensity to
save his life. His rifle was unloaded. Of course he had not wounded
the bear, or his stratagem would have been in vain. Throwing himself on
the ground, the hunter closed his eyes, and stretching out his limbs,
feigned to be dead. It must have been a fearful moment when he felt the
bear lift up his body in his claws to carry him away to the
neighbourhood of his lair. The bear having dug a hole, placed him in
it, and covered him carefully with leaves, grass, and bushes. An
Indian, or hardy backwoodsman, could alone have existed under such
circumstances. The hunter waited anxiously till he heard loud snores
proceeding from the cavern. Then, slipping up, like Jack the
Giant-killer from the castle of the ogre, he scampered off as fast as
his legs could carry him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account