During the years I lived on the frontier I came in contact with many persons who had been severely mauled or even crippled for life by grislies;and a number of cases where they killed men outright were also brought under my ken.Generally these accidents,as was natural,occurred to hunters who had roused or wounded the game.
A fighting bear sometimes uses his claws and sometimes his teeth.Ihave never known one to attempt to kill an antagonist by hugging,in spite of the popular belief to this effect;though he will sometimes draw an enemy towards him with his paws the better to reach him with his teeth,and to hold him so that he cannot escape from the biting.
Nor does the bear often advance on his hind legs to the attack;though,if the man has come close to him in thick underbrush,or has stumbled on him in his lair unawares,he will often rise up in this fashion and strike a single blow.He will also rise in clinching with a man on horseback.In 1882a mounted Indian was killed in this manner on one of the river bottoms some miles below where my ranch house now stands,not far from the junction of the Beaver and Little Missouri.
The bear had been hunted into a thicket by a band of Indians,in whose company my informant,a white squaw-man,with whom I afterward did some trading,was travelling.One of them in the excitement of the pursuit rode across the end of the thicket;as he did so the great beast sprang at him with wonderful quickness,rising on its hind legs,and knocking over the horse and rider with a single sweep of its terrible fore-paws.It then turned on the fallen man and tore him open,and though the other Indians came promptly to his rescue and slew his assailant,they were not in time to save their comrade's life.
A bear is apt to rely mainly on his teeth or claws according to whether his efforts are directed primarily to killing his foe or to making good his own escape.In the latter event he trusts chiefly to his claws.If cornered,he of course makes a rush for freedom,and in that case he downs any man who is in his way with a sweep of his great paw,but passes on without stopping to bite him.If while sleeping or resting in thick brush some one suddenly stumbles on him close up he pursues the same course,less from anger than from fear,being surprised and startled.Moreover,if attacked at close quarters by men and dogs he strikes right and left in defence.
Sometimes what is called a charge is rather an effort to get away.In localities where he has been hunted,a bear,like every other kind of game,is always on the look-out for an attack,and is prepared at any moment for immediate flight.He seems ever to have in his mind,whether feeding,sunning himself,or merely roaming around,the direction--usually towards the thickest cover or most broken ground--in which he intends to run if molested.When shot at he instantly starts towards this place;or he may be so confused that he simply runs he knows not whither;and in either event he may take a line that leads almost directly to or by the hunter,although he had at first no thought of charging.In such a case he usually strikes a single knock-down blow and gallops on without halting,though that one blow may have taken life.If the claws are long and fairly sharp (as in early spring,or even in the fall,if the animal has been working over soft ground)they add immensely to the effect of the blow,for they cut like blunt axes.Often,however,late in the season,and if the ground has been dry and hard,or rocky,the claws are worn down nearly to the quick,and the blow is then given mainly with the under side of the paw;although even under this disadvantage a thump from a big bear will down a horse or smash in a man's breast.The hunter Hofer once lost a horse in this manner.He shot at and wounded a bear which rushed off,as ill luck would have it,past the place where his horse was picketed;probably more in fright than in anger it struck the poor beast a blow which,in the end,proved mortal.
If a bear means mischief and charges not to escape but to do damage,its aim is to grapple with or throw down its foe and bite him to death.The charge is made at a gallop,the animal sometimes coming on silently,with the mouth shut,and sometimes with the jaws open,the lips drawn back and teeth showing,uttering at the same time a succession of roars or of savage rasping snarls.Certain bears charge without any bluster and perfectly straight;while others first threaten and bully,and even when charging stop to growl,shake the head and bite at a bush or knock holes in the ground with their fore-paws.Again,some of them charge home with a ferocious resolution which their extreme tenacity of life renders especially dangerous;while others can be turned or driven back even by a shot which is not mortal.They show the same variability in their behavior when wounded.
Often a big bear,especially if charging,will receive a bullet in perfect silence,without flinching or seeming to pay any heed to it;while another will cry out and tumble about,and if charging,even though it may not abandon the attack,will pause for a moment to whine or bite at the wound.
