The Biography of a Grizzly Read online

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  THE BIOGRAPHY OF A GRIZZLY

  by Ernest Seton-Thompson

  With 75 Drawings (not available in this file)

  Author of: The Trail of the Sandhill Stag Wild Animals I HaveKnown Art Anatomy of Animals Mammals of Manitoba Birds of Manitoba

  1899

  This Book is dedicated to the memory of the days spent at thePalette Ranch on the Graybull, where from hunter, miner, personalexperience, and the host himself, I gathered many chapters of theHistory of Wahb.

  ] In this Book the designs for title-page, cover, andgeneral makeup, were done by Mrs. Grace Gallatin Seton-Thompson.

  ] List of Full-Page Drawings

  They all Rushed Under it like a Lot of Little Pigs

  Like Children Playing 'Hands'

  He Stayed in the Tree till near Morning

  A Savage Bobcat ... Warned Him to go Back

  Wahb Yelled and Jerked Back

  He Struck one Fearful, Crushing Blow

  Ain't He an Awful Size, Though?

  Wahb Smashed His Skull

  Causing the Pool to Overflow

  He Deliberately Stood up on the Pine Root

  The Roachback Fled into the Woods

  He Paused a Moment at the Gate

  PART I

  THE CUBHOOD OF WAHB

  ]

  I.

  He was born over a score of years ago, away up in the wildest part ofthe wild West, on the head of the Little Piney, above where the PaletteRanch is now.

  His Mother was just an ordinary Silvertip, living the quiet life thatall Bears prefer, minding her own business and doing her duty by herfamily, asking no favors of any one excepting to let her alone. It wasJuly before she took her remarkable family down the Little Piney to theGraybull, and showed them what strawberries were, and where to findthem.

  Notwithstanding their Mother's deep conviction, the cubs were notremarkably big or bright; yet they were a remarkable family, for therewere four of them, and it is not often a Grizzly Mother can boast ofmore than two.

  The woolly-coated little creatures were having a fine time, and reveledin the lovely mountain summer and the abundance of good things. TheirMother turned over each log and flat stone they came to, and the momentit was lifted they all rushed under it like a lot of little pigs to lickup the ants and grubs there hidden.

  It never once occurred to them that Mammy's strength might failsometime, and let the great rock drop just as they got under it; norwould any one have thought so that might have chanced to see that hugearm and that shoulder sliding about under the great yellow robe shewore. No, no; that arm could never fail. The little ones were quiteright. So they hustled and tumbled one another at each fresh log intheir haste to be first, and squealed little squeals, and growled littlegrowls, as if each was a pig, a pup, and a kitten all rolled into one.

  They were well acquainted with the common little brown ants that harborunder logs in the uplands, but now they came for the first time on oneof the hills of the great, fat, luscious Wood-ant, and they all crowdedaround to lick up those that ran out. But they soon found that they werelicking up more cactus-prickles and sand than ants, till their Mothersaid in Grizzly, "Let me show you how."

  She knocked off the top of the hill, then laid her great paw flat on itfor a few moments, and as the angry ants swarmed on to it she lickedthem up with one lick, and got a good rich mouthful to crunch, without agrain of sand or a cactus-stinger in it. The cubs soon learned. Eachput up both his little brown paws, so that there was a ring of paws allaround the ant-hill, and there they sat, like children playing 'hands,'and each licked first the right and then the left paw, or one cuffed hisbrother's ears for licking a paw that was not his own, till the ant-hillwas cleared out and they were ready for a change.

  Ants are sour food and made the Bears thirsty, so the old one led downto the river. After they had drunk as much as they wanted, and dabbledtheir feet, they walked down the bank to a pool, where the old one'skeen eye caught sight of a number of Buffalo-fish basking on the bottom.The water was very low, mere pebbly rapids between these deep holes, soMammy said to the little ones:

  "Now you all sit there on the bank and learn something new."

  ]

  First she went to the lower end of the pool and stirred up a cloud ofmud which hung in the still water, and sent a long tail floating like acurtain over the rapids just below. Then she went quietly round by land,and sprang into the upper end of the pool with all the noise she could.The fish had crowded to that end, but this sudden attack sent them offin a panic, and they dashed blindly into the mud-cloud. Out of fiftyfish there is always a good chance of some being fools, and half a dozenof these dashed through the darkened water into the current, and beforethey knew it they were struggling over the shingly shallow. The oldGrizzly jerked them out to the bank, and the little ones rushed noisilyon these funny, short snakes that could not get away, and gobbled andgorged till their little bellies looked like balloons.

  They had eaten so much now, and the sun was so hot, that all were quitesleepy. So the Mother-bear led them to a quiet little nook, and as soonas she lay down, though they were puffing with heat, they all snuggledaround her and went to sleep, with their little brown paws curled in,and their little black noses tucked into their wool as though it were avery cold day.

  ]

  After an hour or two they began to yawn and stretch themselves, exceptlittle Fuzz, the smallest; she poked out her sharp nose for a moment,then snuggled back between her Mother's great arms, for she was agentle, petted little thing. The largest, the one afterward known asWahb, sprawled over on his back and began to worry a root that stuck up,grumbling to himself as he chewed it, or slapped it with his paw for notstaying where he wanted it. Presently Mooney, the mischief, begantugging at Frizzle's ears, and got his own well boxed. They clenched fora tussle; then, locked in a tight, little grizzly yellow ball, theysprawled over and over on the grass, and, before they knew it, down abank, and away out of sight toward the river.

  ]

  Almost immediately there was an outcry of yells for help from the littlewrestlers. There could be no mistaking the real terror in their voices.Some dreadful danger was threatening.

  ]

  Up jumped the gentle Mother, changed into a perfect demon, and over thebank in time to see a huge Range-bull make a deadly charge at what hedoubtless took for a yellow dog. In a moment all would have been overwith Frizzle, for he had missed his footing on the bank; but there was athumping of heavy feet, a roar that startled even the great Bull, and,like a huge bounding ball of yellow fur, Mother Grizzly was upon him.Him! the monarch of the herd, the master of all these plains, what hadhe to fear? He bellowed his deep war-cry, and charged to pin the old oneto the bank; but as he bent to tear her with his shining horns, shedealt him a stunning blow, and before he could recover she was on hisshoulders, raking the flesh from his ribs with sweep after sweep of herterrific claws.

  The Bull roared with rage, and plunged and reared, dragging MotherGrizzly with him; then, as he hurled heavily off the slope, she let goto save herself, and the Bull rolled down into the river.

  This was a lucky thing for him, for the Grizzly did not want to followhim there; so he waded out on the other side, and bellowing withfury and pain, slunk off to join the herd to which he belonged.

  desc. Mountain peaks]

  II.

  Old Colonel Pickett, the cattle king, was out riding the range. Thenight before, he had seen the new moon descending over the white cone ofPickett's Peak.

  "I saw the last moon over Frank's Pe
ak," said he, "and the luck wasagainst me for a month; now I reckon it's my turn."

  Next morning his luck began. A letter came from Washington granting hisrequest that a post-office be established at his ranch, and containedthe polite inquiry, "What name do you suggest for the new post-office?"

  The Colonel took down his new rifle, a 45-90 repeater. "May as well,"he said; "this is my month"; and he rode up the Graybull to see how thecattle were doing.

  As he passed under the Rimrock Mountain he heard a far-away roaring asof Bulls fighting, but thought nothing of it till he rounded the pointand saw on the flat below a lot of his cattle pawing the dust andbellowing as they always do when they smell the blood of one of theirnumber. He soon saw that the great Bull, 'the boss of the bunch,' wascovered with blood. His back and sides were torn as by a Mountain-lion,and his head was battered as by another Bull.

  "Grizzly," growled the Colonel, for he knew the mountains. He quicklynoted the general direction of the Bull's back trail, then rode toward ahigh bank that offered a view. This was across the gravelly ford of theGraybull, near the mouth of the Piney. His horse splashed through thecold water and began jerkily to climb the other bank.

  As soon as the rider's head rose above the bank his hand grabbed therifle, for there in full sight were five Grizzly Bears, an old one andfour cubs. "Run for the woods," growled the Mother Grizzly, for she knewthat men carried guns. Not that she feared for herself; but the idea ofsuch things among her darlings was too horrible to think of. She set offto guide them to the timber-tangle on the Lower Piney. But an awful,murderous fusillade began.

  _Bang_! and Mother Grizzly felt a deadly pang.

  _Bang_! and poor little Fuzz rolled over with a scream of pain and laystill.

  With a roar of hate and fury Mother Grizzly turned to attack the enemy.

  _Bang_! and she fell paralyzed and dying with a high shoulder shot. Andthe three little cubs, not knowing what to do, ran back to their Mother.

  _Bang! bang_! and Mooney and Frizzle sank in dying agonies beside her,and Wahb, terrified and stupefied, ran in a circle about them. Then,hardly knowing why, he turned and dashed into the timber-tangle, anddisappeared as a last _bang_ left him with a stinging pain and auseless, broken hind paw.

  * * * * *

  That is why the post-office was called Four-Bears. The Colonel seemedpleased with what he had done; indeed, he told of it himself.

  But away up in the woods of Anderson's Peak that night a little lameGrizzly might have been seen wandering, limping along, leaving abloody spot each time he tried to set down his hind paw; whining andwhimpering, "Mother! Mother! Oh, Mother, where are you?" for he was coldand hungry, and had such a pain in his foot. But there was no Motherto come to him, and he dared not go back where he had left her, so hewandered aimlessly about among the pines.

  description: bear paw prints]

  Then he smelled some strange animal smell and heard heavy footsteps;and not knowing what else to do, he climbed a tree. Presently a band ofgreat, long-necked, slim-legged animals, taller than his Mother, came byunder the tree. He had seen such once before and had not been afraid ofthem then, because he had been with his Mother. But now he kept veryquiet in the tree, and the big creatures stopped picking the grass whenthey were near him, and blowing their noses, ran out of sight.

  He stayed in the tree till near morning, and then he was so stiff withcold that he could scarcely get down. But the warm sun came up, and hefelt better as he sought about for berries and ants, for he was veryhungry. Then he went back to the Piney and put his wounded foot in theice-cold water.

  He wanted to get back to the mountains again, but still he felt he mustgo to where he had left his Mother and brothers. When the afternoon grewwarm, he went limping down the stream through the timber, and down onthe banks of the Graybull till he came to the place where yesterday theyhad had the fish-feast; and he eagerly crunched the heads and remainsthat he found. But there was an odd and horrid smell on the wind. Itfrightened him, and as he went down to where he last had seen his Motherthe smell grew worse. He peeped out cautiously at the place, and sawthere a lot of Coyotes, tearing at something. What it was he did notknow; but he saw no Mother, and the smell that sickened and terrifiedhim was worse than ever, so he quietly turned back toward thetimber-tangle of the Lower Piney, and nevermore came back to look forhis lost family. He wanted his Mother as much as ever, but somethingtold him it was no use.

  As cold night came down, he missed her more and more again, and hewhimpered as he limped along, a miserable, lonely, little, motherlessBear--not lost in the mountains, for he had no home to seek, but sosick and lonely, and with such a pain in his foot, and in his stomach acraving for the drink that would nevermore be his. That night he found ahollow log, and crawling in, he tried to dream that his Mother's great,furry arms were around him, and he snuffled himself to sleep.

  III.

  Wahb had always been a gloomy little Bear; and the string of misfortunesthat came on him just as his mind was forming made him more than eversullen and morose. It seemed as though every one were against him. Hetried to keep out of sight in the upper woods of the Piney, seeking hisfood by day and resting at night in the hollow log. But one eveninghe found it occupied by a Porcupine as big as himself and as bad as acactus-bush. Wahb could do nothing with him. He had to give up the logand seek another nest.

  One day he went down on the Graybull flat to dig some roots that hisMother had taught him were good. But before he had well begun, agrayish-looking animal came out of a hole in the ground and rushed athim, hissing and growling. Wahb did not know it was a Badger, but he sawit was a fierce animal as big as himself. He was sick, and lame too,so he limped away and never stopped till he was on a ridge in the nextcanyon. Here a Coyote saw him, and came bounding after him, calling atthe same time to another to come and join the fun. Wahb was near atree, so he scrambled up to the branches. The Coyotes came bounding andyelping below, but their noses told them that this was a young Grizzlythey had chased, and they soon decided that a young Grizzly in a treemeans a Mother Grizzly not far away, and they had better let him alone.

  After they had sneaked off Wahb came down and returned to the Piney.There was better feeding on the Graybull, but every one seemed againsthim there now that his loving guardian was gone, while on the Piney hehad peace at least sometimes, and there were plenty of trees that hecould climb when an enemy came.

  His broken foot was a long time in healing; indeed, it never gotquite well. The wound healed and the soreness wore off, but it left astiffness that gave him a slight limp, and the sole-balls grew togetherquite unlike those of the other foot. It particularly annoyed him whenhe had to climb a tree or run fast from his enemies; and of them hefound no end, though never once did a friend cross his path. When helost his Mother he lost his best and only friend. She would have taughthim much that he had to learn by bitter experience, and would have savedhim from most of the ills that befell him in his cubhood--ills so manyand so dire that but for his native sturdiness he never could havepassed through alive.

  The pinons bore plentifully that year, and the winds began to showerdown the ripe, rich nuts. Life was becoming a little easier for Wahb. Hewas gaining in health and strength, and the creatures he daily met nowlet him alone. But as he feasted on the pinons one morning after a gale,a great Black-bear came marching down the hill. 'No one meets a friendin the woods,' was a byword that Wahb had learned already. He swung upthe nearest tree. At first the Black-bear was scared, for he smelled thesmell of Grizzly; but when he saw it was only a cub, he took courage andcame growling at Wahb. He could climb as well as the little Grizzly, orbetter, and high as Wahb went, the Blackbear followed, and whenWahb got out on the smallest and highest twig that would carry him, theBlackbear cruelly shook him off, so that he was thrown to the ground,bruised and shaken and half-stunned. He limped away moaning, and theonly thing that kept the Blackbear from following him up and perhapskilling him was the fear that the old Grizz
ly might be about. So Wahbwas driven away down the creek from all the good pinon woods.

  There was not much food on the Graybull now. The berries were nearly allgone; there were no fish or ants to get, and Wahb, hurt, lonely,and miserable, wandered on and on, till he was away down toward theMeteetsee. A Coyote came bounding and barking through the sage-brushafter him. Wahb tried to run, but it was no use; the Coyote was soon upwith him. Then with a sudden rush of desperate courage Wahb turned andcharged his foe. The astonished Coyote gave a scared yowl or two, andfled with his tail between his legs. Thus Wahb learned that war is theprice of peace.

  But the forage was poor here; there were too many cattle; and Wahb wasmaking for a far-away pinon woods in the Meteetsee Canon when he saw aman, just like the one he had seen on that day of sorrow. At the samemoment he heard a _bang_, and some sage-brush rattled and fell just overhis back. All the dreadful smells and dangers of that day came back tohis memory, and Wahb ran as he never had run before.

  He soon got into a gully and followed it into the canyon. An openingbetween two cliffs seemed to offer shelter, but as he ran toward it aRange-cow came trotting between, shaking her head at him and snortingthreats against his life.

  He leaped aside upon a long log that led up a bank, but at once a savageBobcat appeared on the other end and warned him to go back. It was notime to quarrel. Bitterly Wahb felt that the world was full of enemies.But he turned and scrambled up a rocky bank into the pinon woods thatborder the benches of the Meteetsee.