|
Post by brobear on Mar 23, 2017 7:08:31 GMT -5
shaggygod.proboards.com/ Bears typically kill using brute force and do not seem to exhibit any stereotyped killing postures or behaviours as seen in canids and felids (R. Boertje, pers. comm.; J. Hechtel, pers. comm.). Polar bears and brown bears have been observed to attack their prey both with bites and crushing forepaw slaps, apparently to whatever region of the prey’s body is accessible (Murie, 1985; Boertje et al., 1988; Case & Stevenson, 1991; M. Ramsay, pers. comm; J. Hechtel, pers. comm.). Sacco, T. and Van Valkenburgh, B. (2004), Ecomorphological indicators of feeding behaviour in the bears (Carnivora: Ursidae). Journal of Zoology, 263: 41–54.
|
|
|
Post by brobear on Mar 23, 2017 7:09:21 GMT -5
Grizzly Years by Doug Peacock.
Now I carried a gun only when I expected to live off the land or when I expected to run into people. Grizzlies seldom attacked people, and then it was usually only mothers protecting cubs. Still, I remembered with a chill at Bato reading in a sports magazine an account of two young women who were killed by two different grizzlies on the same night during 1967 in Glacier National Park. I had to remember that this animal was regarded as the most dangerous to man on the North American continent.
Once I watched a young bear mock-charge across a field, stampeding a herd of seven elk. Another time an adult grizzly circled three bull bison, closing to within thirty feet, until one of the buffalo lowered his head and thrust his horns toward the bear, who backed off thirty yards, then circled the bison again.
|
|
|
Post by brobear on Mar 23, 2017 7:10:00 GMT -5
The Grizzly Almanac by Robert H. Busch.
Almost all bears love carrion, but individual bears sometimes develop highly individual food preferences. One Yellowstone grizzly preferred to kill live elk, distaining the numerous elk carcasses available to it.
Another grizzly's kill was once witnessed by a Yellowstone park ranger. The bear had surprised a herd of elk crossing the Madison River and killed one of the cows with a single mighty blow to its head with a front paw. The adult elk was killed instantly, the ranger said, in "an explosion of brains, blood, and bone fragments." Young fawns and calves are more common grizzly fare.
However, biologist Charles Jonkel, who studied black bears, polar bears, and grizzlies, and has extensive experience comparing the three bruins, says that grizzlies are not adept at hunting. "Most grizzly bears don't even know how to catch elk, deer, and such. They can become very good predators of those animals, but most of them don't have the foggiest idea how to do it," Jonkel says ( quoted in Hummel, 1991 ).
|
|
|
Post by brobear on Mar 23, 2017 7:10:41 GMT -5
The Beast That Walks Like Man by Harold McCracken. When a grizzly made a kill, of some other wild animal or domestic stock, he would generally drag it to some secluded spot to enjoy the feast. Large bears have been known to transport a full-grown elk or even a hefty steer a mile or more over rough and difficult country. Their strength is amazing. They did not make such a kill everyday. Sometimes it was infrequent. On such happy occasions, however, he ate very heartily; and, not being able to consume it all at one sitting, Old Ephraim gave serious attention to preserving and protecting what was left for future meals. After satisfying his immediate appetite he would cover up the cache with leaves or even parts of dead trees, sometimes digging out a shallow hole in the ground beforehand. Then he would wander away, to return for the next meal, or he might lie down near enough to protect it from trespassers.
|
|
|
Post by brobear on Mar 23, 2017 7:11:18 GMT -5
BEARS of the last frontier... Spring sees a change in diet for the bears that have learned to kill moose and caribou calves or scavenge on the remains of those that didn't make it through the trauma of birth. Pat Owen, one of the Denali park biologists, told me that she has also seen grizzly bears halfheartedly pursuing adult moose and caribou, but usually the chase didn't last long once the bears came to their senses. Wolves of course also prey upon these ungulate species, leaving valuable carcasses behind for opportunistic bears, wolverines, foxes, and ravens.
|
|
|
Post by brobear on Mar 23, 2017 7:12:04 GMT -5
Grizzly Years by Doug peacock. The Bitter Creek Grizzly was the only bear I knew of in Yellowstone that regularly killed moose and bison. He attacked younger animals - ambushed them from nearby timber, then dragged them back into the trees, sometimes covering the carcasses with dirt and sticks. I had seen this too many times to believe that these animals had all conveniently died during the winter. His was not the usual pattern of predation for grizzlies. In 1977, when I first crossed paths with the Bitter Creek Griz, a biologist had found another grizzly who had passed up many carcasses for live elk: The bear liked to kill what he ate. A few bears learn to kill healthy adult elk during all seasons, and cow-struck bulls during the rut were especially stupid and approachable. Yellowstone grizzlies also prey on elk calves, as they do caribou calves in Alaska, and moose calves in both places. Adult moose were generally a match for a grizzly except when snows were deep and lightly crusted: grizzlies can walk lightly over a thin crust, distributing their weight evenly on their plantigrade feet, and they glide over the top of deep drifts in which moose wallow.
I thought that grizzly predation was not as common here as it had been a decade or more ago. The predatory segment of the population had probably been killed off selectively, and continues to be culled as they were born into it, because predatory bears are bolder and more visible. The Bitter Creek Griz was a holdover from the days when bears could afford to be bold and aggressive. Which served, as it always had, an important ecological function vital to survival of the species.
|
|
|
Post by brobear on Mar 23, 2017 7:14:59 GMT -5
Bears of the World by Paul Ward and Suzanne Kynaston.
The structure of the gut is also ( *besides teeth ) intimately related to the diet. Herbivorous animals often have a large chamber in which they are able to ferment their food ( with the aid of symbiotic microbes ); chewed food is passed to this chamber and then, after fermentation, is regurgitated for further chewing before being passed to the stomach for true digestion. Not even the most dedicated vegetarian member of the bears has evolved such a structure and bears are thus particularly inefficient at extracting nutrients from their food. This is one of the reasons why bears tend to opt for the most readily digestible available plant foods, rarely eating older grasses, sedges, and leaves. Specific growth stages of plants also vary in their suitability to bears' dietary preference, even from week to week. Bears are not born with this knowledge of the temporal sequence of appropriate food; it is something which must be learned as a cub, during the time spent with its mother.
The size of the bear obviously affects the size of the prey it can hunt. Brown bears are able to prey on moose, wapiti or elk, caribou or reindeer, bison, and musk ox.
|
|
|
Post by brobear on Mar 23, 2017 7:15:36 GMT -5
Wild Guide - Bears by Charles Fergus.
Grizzlies have been seen killing fully grown elk, moose, bison, and musk oxen, although not often do they tackle such dangerous prey.
|
|
|
Post by brobear on Mar 23, 2017 7:16:09 GMT -5
Yellowstone Bears in the Wild by James C. Halfpenny.
"Students from my bear class and I watched spellbound as the grizzly swept rapidly back and forth through the grass of Antelope Creek. The bear had learned that by loping through the grass it could often spook an elk calf out of hiding. It worked. A calf broke from cover but the bear was on it before it covered five strides. Today the sow's cubs would eat." - Field Notes, June 20, 1994.
|
|
|
Post by brobear on Mar 23, 2017 7:17:00 GMT -5
Yellowstone Bears in the Wild by James C. Halfpenny.
If an animal is big and fast and has big canine teeth, then predation comes naturally to that animal. Yellowstone bears fit this description and they are consummate predators when opportunities arise. They also have strategies to maximize success. Standing along the Mount Washburn road, we used spotting scopes to scan the south side of Specimen Ridge. We watched a grizzly running for no apparent reason. The bear went back and forth over the hillside for more than a half mile. It went up and down a thousand vertical feet. It loped, not at a top speed but faster than any distance runner could match. It weaved in and around three-foot-tall sagebrush. This activity went on for about 30 minutes. Then an elk calf flushed from sagebrush near the bear. A surge of speed by the grizzly and the hunt was over. The bear's seemingly endless jaunt was actually a well-developed strategy that produced food. Kerry Gunther, Yellowstone National Park's bear management biologist, and Steve and Marilyn French describe three hunting strategies when bears are preying on elk calves: search, chase, and ambush. Searching takes advantage of an elk's strategy to protect calves by having calves curl up on the ground in an area of tall sagebrush and remain motionless. Grizzlies search in one of two ways. During blind searches, a bear approaches a sagebrush meadow where there are no elk. It moves rapidly through the sage with its nose to the ground. Generally the bear uses a zigzag pattern and sometimes stands on its hind legs to look for newborns. These searches average about 30 minutes but they may cover two miles and last two hours before the bear is successful or gives up. The visible search involves a bear charging into a meadow where there are elk, usually females. But rather than chase the fleeing adults, the bear starts searching through the sage just like a blind search. Many people say newborn elk calves have no odor. This is not true. After performing a necropsy on a dead calf, I can smell the calf's odor on my hands, and if I can smell it, so can a bear. Many observers have seen searching bear abruptly turn into the wind and grab a calf. Nonetheless, when a calf curls among the sagebrush its odor is low to the ground and doesn't dissipate very far. A bear must be close to detect it. In a chase, a bear lopes towards a herd of elk, causing them to bunch together. Then the bear charges into the herd, scattering the elk and creating confusion. Sometimes calves get separated from their mothers and the bear concentrates on a calf. Chases average only five to ten minutes but may cover three miles. The third strategy is ambush. This is when bears take advantage of cover, usually trees, to stalk as close as 50 yards from elk. Then the bear bursts from hiding at full gallop. Ambush chases are very efficient and seldom last more than 20 seconds or cover more than 150 yards.
|
|
|
Post by brobear on Mar 23, 2017 7:17:41 GMT -5
Yellowstone Bears in the Wild by James C. Halfpenny.
Lone bears and females with cubs do much of the predation on elk calves. The time when calves are most vulnerable coincides with the bear mating season, and adult males spend far more time searching for females than preying on elk calves. Elk often act in defence during bear attacks on calves. A mother elk will approach a bear that is searching her area. If the bear chases the mother, the adult elk is seldom caught and the bear usually ends up starting a new search in a new area, presumably away from where the mother elk had hidden her calf. In a chase, mother elk sometimes charge at the bear from the side, causing the bear to veer off and perhaps lose track of the calf it was chasing. At other times not only the calf's mother but other female elk will cross between a running calf and the pursuing bear. Occasionally famale will try to intimidate a bear and may actually kick at it. The final defense strategy is to flee into water, usually a river. This tactic works better with wolves than grizzlies. Summer chases of adult elk are more often failure than successes. Much has been made about grizzlies killing large bull elk that are in a weakened condition after the autumn rutting season, but this has seldom been observed. Mattson calculates that on average a Yellowstone grizzly kills an adult elk once every year. Of course, some grizzlies kill no elk and other grizzlies kill more than one. Some of these elk must be bulls. Some bears must prey on elk after dark. female bears with cubs may not come out of the forest until dark, but by morning light they are seen feeding on a freshly killed elk carcass.
|
|
|
Post by brobear on Mar 23, 2017 7:18:40 GMT -5
Yellowstone Bears in the Wild by James C. Halfpenny.
Grizzlies also prey on moose and bison. When Dave Mattson compared prey selection, grizzlies appeared to favor moose over other ungulates while bison and deer were least favored. Bears obtained almost half of their moose meat by predation; on average a bear killed one moose every other year. Nonetheless, the amount of moose meat consumed by grizzlies was 20 times greater than would be expected by the population density of moose. Moose are larger than elk and usually provide more meat, but moose behavior may be the critical key to bear predation. Moose are solitary creatures that inhabit forests much of the time. Grizzlies may be better able to use forest cover to stalk and ambush moose. Conversely, elk and bison exist in herds in open areas, two factors that work against successful bear attacks. Few deer are taken, possibly because deer are fast and in general inhabit lower elevations than grizzlies.
|
|
|
Post by brobear on Mar 23, 2017 7:19:28 GMT -5
Yellowstone Bears in the Wild by James C. Halfpenny.
Because of their large size, a bison represents a valuable food prize for a bear, but with size comes the ability to defend itself. Bison are very agile and have been known to run 40 mph for great distances. They are very strong with powerful head and shoulder muscles. Given the risks of injury to a bear, it was not surprising there were almost no historic records of bears preying on bison. In 2002 that changed.
|
|
|
Post by brobear on Mar 23, 2017 7:20:08 GMT -5
Yellowstone Bears in the Wild by James C. Halfpenny.
On June 26, 2002, Yellowstone naturalist Nathan Varley along with Bob Landis and Joel Sartore, National Geographic videographer and photographer respectively, watched a female grizzly with two COY approach a lone bison and her calf. The calf appeared to be seven to eight weeks old. The grizzly stared intently at the bison and her calf. The bear and her cubs ambled into some sagebrush where the bear suddenly picked up speed and headed down the slope to intersect the walking bison. The bison sped up but the bear cut them off. Initially the mother bison was between her calf and the bear. When the bison turned to confront the grizzly, the bear went around her. The animals disappeared in a swale, and then the bear came out of the swale with the bison calf in its mouth and the mother bison in swift pursuit. The bear stopped to defend her catch. The mother bison circled and sort of bluff chraged, but she was not really trying to gore or trample the bear. Finally the bison started to eat grass about 20 yards away; this was obviously displacement behavior at not being able to get the grizzly to leave. The bear fed on the calf for 15 minutes and the mother bison left. Then the bear covered the carcass with grass and sage. She found her cubs and together they disappeared into the woods. At dusk the entire family came to the carcass and fed.
|
|
|
Post by brobear on Mar 23, 2017 7:21:09 GMT -5
Yellowstone Bears in the Wild by James C. Halfpenny.
While some female grizzlies are very adapt at predation, most predation probably is done by males. The reasons may be two-fold. A risk of injury is always associated with predation, especially on large animals such as moose and bison. For a female bear, an injury might signal the end of her ability to care for her young. Another reason, according to Dave Mattson, is that different life strategies for males and females may influence the need for active predation. Reproductive success of a female is dependent on sufficient reserves of adipose fat, whereas males need muscle to gain competitive advantage in a breeding system often characterized by violent confrontations with other males and even with females. Since a high-protein diet promotes muscle growth, greater consumption of protein by males would be expected.
|
|
|
Post by brobear on Mar 23, 2017 7:22:03 GMT -5
Yellowstone Bears in the Wild by James C. Halfpenny.
Scavenging is safer than predation, and with their great ability to smell, bears are very adept at locating carcasses. Mattson estimates that 57% of elk, 54% of moose, and 96% of bison meat consumed by bears comes from scavenging. Most of the scavenged meat is adult bison, elk less than 24 months of age, and adult elk. Interestingly, scavenging provides grizzlies with essentially the same amount of meat as they obtain by predation.
|
|
|
Post by brobear on Mar 23, 2017 7:22:47 GMT -5
Bear Almanac by Gary Brown.
Bison - The American Buffalo ( or bison ) shares much of its range with grizzly bears, but there is minimal conflict between them. A grizzly bear normally does not attack an adult bison, for it may be the loser.
Though bears would prefer the easier prey, for success and to prevent injury, a grizzly bear sow, with two cubs, in Yellowstone National Park was observed attacking and killing an adult bison.
|
|
|
Post by brobear on Mar 23, 2017 7:23:55 GMT -5
Man Meets Grizzly by Young and Beyers. Old plainsmen and trappers often debate which was more powerful, the buffalo or the grizzly bear. Both were fearless titans. There are more accounts of grizzlies killing buffalo - perhaps the expected outcome, in view of the weapons and tactics employed by both animals. This story, then, should be of special interest. It concerns a bull buffalo that stood his ground against the most feared animal of the plains and mountains. The fight was fair; there was no one to interfere. The bear was the aggressor, for he was trespassing on the home ground of the buffalo. Both animals entered the contest determined to win and gave no quarter. The fortunate witnesses were thrilled by the mighty combat, yet the white hunter, though stirred, would have shot the victor. But the Indian, in admiration, acclaimed the buffalo and turned aside the hunter's rifle. I would entitle this story "Big Brave."
Upon reaching the crest of the ridge they had a full view of the buffalo, which proved to be a bull of the largest size, in full flesh and vigor. Their attention was at once attracted to the curious conduct of the magnificent animal. His head was turned partially from them, looking toward the ravine on the opposite side. He was emitting the low bellowing roar peculiar to the buffalo when excited, throwing up dirt and raising his tail as they do when enraged. The hunters thought he was challenging another buffalo, and waited to see the result. In a few moments they saw an enormous grizzly bear moving slowly up to the knoll where the buffalo awaited his coming.
The bear approached cautiously, stopping every few yards to observe his antagonist, whose excitement and rage seemed to increase and whose continuous muffled roar drowned all the other sounds.
Finally, when the bear had arrived within a few rods of his noble enemy, on the narrow bench of nearly level ground, the buffalo brought matters to a crisis by lowering his gigantic head and charging with all his strength. The bear immediately raised himself on his hind legs, and skillfully avoided the buffalo's horns, caught him around the head with his left arm, seizing him at the same time by the back of his neck with his powerful jaws. Then came a grand exhibition of strength, the buffalo using all his tremendous power to get his horns under the bear and free himself from the close embrace of his adversary, while the latter, clinging with his teeth and one arm, used the other in an attempt to cripple the buffalo by the most terrific blows on his left shoulder and side. In this tremendous struggle, they turned in a circle several times, until finally the buffalo accomplished his objective and threw the bear from him. For a few moments they remained gazing at one another, evidently recovering their breath, somewhat exhausted by their previous efforts. The buffalo was bleeding from several wounds in the neck, and the bear from wounds on his side. They both exhibited the extreme of savage anger, the buffalo bellowing, tearing the earth, and shaking his great shaggy head, while the bear returned his challenge by continuous roars, showing his great teeth and swinging his massive head from side to side. The buffalo brought the truce to a close by a rapid charge, which the bear eluded, striking his adversary a tremendous blow as he passed, which again brought blood. The buffalo turned with the rapidity peculiar to the animal, and repeated the charge several times, without effecting his object. At last they closed in the final struggle, the bear clinging to the buffalo's head and shoulders, while the latter maneuvered to get his horns under his formidable antagonist. Round and round they went, tearing up rocks and bushes, until the buffalo succeeded in his efforts, forced the bear over the edge of the little plateau, and, in the impetuosity of his charge, fell on the bear with all his enormous weight, and turned a complete somersault down the steep decline. For an instant both lay still, but the buffalo soon recovered himself, and staggered slowly to his feet, again faced his antagonist with undiminished resolution. The bear, however, lay quiet, breathing heavily and evidently "hors de combat." After waiting a few moments for a renewal of the attack the buffalo slowly approached his fallen enemy, and applying his great strength, rolled him over. Finding him dead, he slowly ascended to the scene of the battle and proclaimed his victory by triumphant bellowing.
The white hunter raised his rifle to shoot him, but the Indian sprang forward and put his hand on the rifle, and turning it away said, "No shoot! Big brave!" and allowed the victor to march slowly away to seek his comrades.
|
|
|
Post by brobear on Mar 23, 2017 7:24:41 GMT -5
The Beast That Walks Like Man by Harold McCracken. Theodore Roosevelt, from his vast store of knowledge of our western game, had the following to say regarding the grizzly: "In the old days ... he wandered at will over the Plains ... roving hither and thither in burly self-confidence ... searching for roots, digging up gophers, or perhaps following the great buffalo herds to prey on some unwary straggler which he was able to catch at a disadvantage in a washout ... Old hunters, survivors of the long-vanished ages when the vast herds thronged the high plains and were followed by the wild Indian tribes, and by bands of whites who were scarcely less savage, have told me that they often met ( grizzly ) bears under such circumstances ... Later in the same account Roosevelt remarks: "The bison was the most easily approached of all game, and the great bear could often get near some outlying straggler, in its quest after stray cows, yearlings, or calves. In default of a favorable chance to make a prey of one of these weaker members of the herd, it did not hesitate to attack the mighty bulls themselves; and perhaps the grandest sight which it was ever the good fortune of the early hunters to witness was one of these rare battles between a hungry grisly and a powerful buffalo bull."
|
|
|
Post by brobear on Mar 23, 2017 7:31:43 GMT -5
This is a tale from the early American West when feral cattle lived as wild and free as the bison. They were the ancestors of the Texas Longhorn. Like their distant cousin, the bison, these range cattle were preyed upon by wolves, cougars, and grizzlies. From - Man Meets Grizzly - Combat Between a Grizzly and a Wild Bull - J. Ross Browne.
While in this position, with the prospect of a dreary night before me, and suffering the keenest physical anguish, a very singular circumstance occurred to relieve me of further apprehension respecting the cattle, though it suggested a new danger for which I was equally unprepared. A fine young bull had descended the bed of the creek in search of a water hole. While pushing his way through the bushes he was suddenly attacked by a grizzly bear. The struggle was terrific. I could see the tops of the bushes sway violently to and fro, and hear the heavy crash of driftwood as the two powerful animals writhed in their fierce embrace. A cloud of dust rose from the spot. It was not distant over a hundred yards from the tree in which I had taken refuge. Scarcely two minutes elapsed before the bull broke through the bushes. His head was covered with blood, and great flakes of flesh hung from his fore-shoulders; but instead of manifesting signs of defeat, he seemed literally to glow with defiant rage. Instinct had taught him to seek an open space. A more splendid specimen of an animal I never saw; lithe and wiry, yet wonderfully massive about the shoulders, combining the rarest qualities of strength and symmetry. For a moment he stood glaring at the bushes, his head erect, his eyes flashing, his nostrils distended, and his whole form fixed and rigid. But scarcely had I time to glance at him when a huge bear, the largest and most formidable I ever saw in a wild state, broke through the opening. A trial of brute force that baffles description now ensued. Badly as I had been treated by the cattle, my sympathies were greatly in favor of the bull, which seemed to me much the nobler animal of the two. He did not wait to meet the charge, but lowered his head, boldly rushed upon his savage adversary. The grizzly was active and wary. He no sooner got within reach of the bull's horns than he seized them in his powerful grasp, keeping the head to the ground by main strength and the tremendous weight of his body, while he bit at the nose with his teeth, and raked strips of flesh from the shoulders with his hind paws. The two animals must have been of very nearly equal weight. On the one side there was the advantage of superior agility and two sets of weapons - the teeth and claws; but on the other, greater powers of endurance and more inflexible courage. The position thus assumed was maintained for some time - the bull struggling desperately to free his head, while the blood streamed from his nostrils; the bear straining every muscle to drag him to the ground. No advantage seemed to be gained on either side. The result of the battle evidently depended on the merest accident. As if by mutual consent, each gradually ceased struggling, to regain breath, and as much as five minutes must have elapsed while they were locked in this motionless but terrible embrace. Suddenly the bull, by one desperate effort, wrenched his head from the grasp of his adversary, and retreated a few steps. The bear stood up to receive him. I now watched with breathless interest, for it was evident that each animal had staked his life upon the issue of the conflict. The cattle from the surrounding plains had crowded in, and stood moaning and bellowing around the combatants; but as if withheld by terror, none seemed disposed to interfere. Rendered furious by his wounds, the bull now gathered up all his energies, and charged with such impetuous force and ferocity that the bear, despite the most terrific blows with his paws, rolled over in the dust, vainly struggling to defend himself. The lunges and thrusts of the former were perfectly furious. At length, by a sudden and well-directed motion of his head, he got one of his horns under the bear's belly, and gave it a rip that brought out a clotted mass of entrails. It was apparent the battle must soon end. Both were grievously wounded, and neither could last much longer. The ground was torn up and covered with blood for some distance around, and the panting of the struggling animals became each moment heavier and quicker. Maimed and gory, they fought with the desperate certainty of death - the bear rolling over and over, vainly striking out to avoid the fatal horns of his adversary; the bull ripping, thrusting, and tearing with irresistible ferocity. At length, as if determined to end the conflict, the bull drew back, lowered his head, and made one tremendous charge; but blinded by the blood that trickled down his forehead, he missed his mark, and rolled headlong on the ground. In an instant the bear whirled and was upon him. Thoroughly invigorated by the prospect of a speedy victory, he tore the flesh in huge masses from the ribs of his prostrate foe. The two rolled over and over in the terrible death struggle; nothing was now to be seen save a heaving, gory mass, dimly perceptible through the dust. A few minutes would certainly have terminated the bloody strife, so far as my favorite was concerned, when, to my astonishment, I saw the bear relax in his efforts, roll over from the body of his prostrate foe, and drag himself feebly a few yards from the spot. His entrails had burst entirely through the wound in his belly, and now lay in long strings over the ground. The next moment the bull was on his legs, erect and fierce as ever. Shaking the blood from his eyes, he looked around, and seeing the reeking mass before him, lowered his head for the final and most desperate charge. In the death struggle that ensued both animals seemed animated by supernatural strength. The grizzly struck out wildly, but with such destructive energy that the bull, upon drawing back his head, presented a horrible and ghastly spectacle; his tongue, a mangled mass of shreds, hanging from his mouth, his eyes torn completely from their sockets, and his whole face stripped to the bone. On the other hand, the bear was ripped completely open and writhing in his last agonies. Here it was that indomitable courage prevailed; for blinded and maimed as he was, the bull, after a momentary pause to regain his wind, dashed wildly at his adversary again, determined to be victorious even in death. A terrific roar escaped from the dying grizzly. With a last frantic effort he sought to make his escape, scrambling over and over in the dust. But his strength was gone. A few more thrusts from the savage victor and he lay stretched upon the sand, his muscles quivering convulsively, his huge body a resistless mass. A clutching motion of the claws - a groan - a gurgle of the throat, and he was dead.
The bull now raised his bloody crest, uttered a deep bellowing sound, shook his horns triumphantly, and slowly walked off, not, however, without turning every few steps to renew the struggle if necessary. But his last battle was fought. As the blood streamed from his wounds a death chill came over him. He stood for some time, unyielding to the last, bracing himself up, his legs apart, his head gradually drooping; then dropped on his fore-knees and lay down; soon his head rested upon the ground; his body became motionless; a groan, a few convulsive respirations, and he too, the nobler victor, was dead.
|
|