THE GRIZZLY BEAR.[142]
This animal, which inhabits the region of the Rocky Mountains as far south as Mexico, is the most savage member of the whole family, and is more dreaded by Indian and Canadian trappers than any other. It is stated to attain a length of nine feet and a weight of eight hundred pounds, so that it greatly exceeds the Brown and Black Bears in size, and approaches in these respects to the Polar Bear. Its strength is enormous. “It has been known to drag to a considerable distance the carcass of a Buffalo, weighing about one thousand pounds.”
The fur is of a dark-brown colour, with a good deal of grey on the head, and is of an inferiorquality to that of the brown and black kinds. It is also distinguished from the latter by shorter and more conical ears, by very long, arched, white claws, and by the ridiculously small size of its tail, which is completely hidden by the surrounding fur. “It is a standing joke among the Indian hunters, when they have killed a Grizzly Bear, to desire any one unacquainted with the animal to take hold of its tail.”
The Grizzly is much more carnivorous in its habits than other Bears, and its ferocity is so great that it will often attack man unprovoked. “The young Grizzly Bears and gravid females hibernate, but the older males often come abroad in the winter in quest of food.”
ISABELLINE, OR INDIAN WHITE BEAR.
ISABELLINE, OR INDIAN WHITE BEAR.