The Grizzly, Our Greatest Wild Animal — John Stuart Mill — John Shaqi
The Grizzly, Our Greatest Wild Animal
John Stuart Mill · en
The man with a gun is a specialist. He is looking for a particular thing
in order to kill it. Generally the gun hampers full enjoyment of the
wilderness. The hunter misses most of the beauty and the glory of the
trail. If he stops to enjoy the pranks of other animals, or to notice
the color of cloud or flower, he will miss his opportunity to secure his
game. When at last he is within range of a bear, it may scent him and be
off at any minute, so he must shoot at once. He learns but little of the
character of the animal.
Trailing the grizzly without a gun is the very acme of hunting. The
gunless hunter comes up close, but he lingers to watch the bear and
perhaps her cubs. He sees them play. Often, too, he has the experience
of seeing wilderness etiquette when other bears or animals come into the
scene. The information that he gathers and his enjoyment excel those
obtained by the man with a gun.
Roosevelt has said and shown that the hunter whose chief interest is in
shooting has but little out of the hunt. Audubon did a little shooting
for specimens. Wright had as many thrills with the camera as with the
rifle. Adams was far happier and more useful with his live grizzlies
than he was killing other grizzlies. Emerson McMillin was satisfied to
hunt without either gun or camera. The words and sketches of Ernest
Thompson Seton have given us much of the artistic side of the
wilderness. Dr. Frank M. Chapman explored two continents for the facts
of bird-lore and in addition to his books prepared the magnificent
bird-groups in the American Museum of Natural History. Thoreau enjoyed
life in the wilderness without a gun. But John Muir was the supreme
wilderness hunter and wanderer. He never carried a gun. Usually he was
in the wilds alone. He spent years in a grizzly bear country. But the
wealth of nature-lore with which he enriched his books make him the
Shakespeare of nature.
The man without a gun can enjoy every scene of nature along his way. He
has time to turn aside for other animals, or to stop and watch any one
of the countless unexpected wild-life exhibitions that are ever
appearing. Then, too, he hears the many calls and sounds, the music of
the wilds. The wild places, especially in grizzly bear land, are crowded
with plants and with exhibitions of the manners and the customs of
animals, and are rich in real nature stories being lived with all their
charm and their dramatic changes.
Where Curiosity Wins
The grizzly bear has the most curiosity of any animal that I have
watched. As curiosity arises from the desire to know, it appears that
the superior mentality of the grizzly may be largely due to the
alertness which curiosity sustains.