On the other hand, almost all Washo men were able to describe in detail the method of hunting and they obviously enjoyed telling bear-hunting stories. The following story told to me by one of the eldest men in Dresslerville, who claims it was told to him by a very old man, is consistent with the stories told by other informants. “There was hardly any Washo who kill bear. But I know this much ... the man who went in there and did it tells me ... bears have their own home in the rocks ... a hole going in the rocks. Go in there naked with a knife or arrow in one hand and burning pitch in other ... light scares him out [the bear], then other men shoot the bear in the mouth with poison arrow [see deer hunting for reference to poison] ... get sick for four or five days, maybe a week. Then the man goes back in. Hardly any Indians could do this.(10) I’ve heard that they cook it and eat it ... not only here but up north. After they get the rifle they get to killing bears around here but hardly ever hear of dividing up the bear meat.” This last remark appears to be significant as all informants emphasized that Indians shared food equally. Thus a statement made voluntarily that bear meat was not shared suggests different attitudes about bears. Another informant adds the detail that when the bear left his lair, the companions of the man who entered the den would block the entrance so the bear could not return. The first man to place an arrow in the animal could claim it and get the hide. This informant also added at this point: “It’s funny that the fella who went inside was _just an ordinary fella_ [emphasis mine].” He also insisted that after a bear was killed the hunting party painted their faces black. Other informants claimed not to know of this or said such painting was done when a mink was killed but they did not know why. One traditional story (Dangberg) sheds a bit more light on the bear. In this tale a group of Washo were camped near a band of Paiute who challenged the Washo to fight. Instead of fighting, the Washo drove a bear from its den and killed it and thus defeated the Paiute. I had all but given up the pursuit of information on the bear, being convinced that my informants either honestly did not know any more (the bear having been relatively rare in this area for a good many years) or were unwilling to discuss something of an extremely sacred nature, when a chance remark suggested at least part of the explanation.