Rarely does a grizzly kill cattle. This killing, when done, is by one grizzly. Perhaps ninety-nine out of every hundred grizzlies never kill any stock or big game. Then, too, when a grizzly kills cattle he usually makes a business of it, and if one should get the habit he could be specially disposed of. Protection to the grizzly would not be at the expense of live stock or big game.
During rambles in the mountains through the years I have investigated more than fourteen cases in which the grizzly was charged with killing cattle. In a number of instances there was not a trace of a grizzly near the carcass. There were traces of other animals, but the guilty one could not be determined. There were eleven carcasses that had been visited by grizzlies; six of these animals had been killed by lions, one by poisonous plants, one by wolves, two by stones that rolled from a land-slip. In the eleventh case neither the carcass nor its surroundings gave any conclusive evidence for determining the cause of the cow's death. The carcass had been fed upon by coyotes, wolves, lions, and both black and grizzly bears. But what killed the cow? It might have been lightning or disease, a wolf or a lion, or possibly a hunter. Many hunters are not up on natural history and shoot at the first object that moves. The only evidence against the grizzly was entirely circumstantial; he had eaten a part of the carcass.
The killing of wild life is not in my line. I am not a hunter. But in the hunting-industry the grizzly heads the list. The hunter will pay more for a shot at a grizzly than for a shot at any other, and often all other, big game. Hunters frequently spend from one thousand to many thousands of dollars in going after the grizzly. They will work harder and longer for a grizzly than for any other animal.
But the grizzly-hunting industry is coming to an end through decreasing numbers of grizzlies. A short time ago the "Saturday Evening Post" said: "The betting is a thousand to one that you will never kill a grizzly inside the United States. There are a few left but not many; and all are highly trained in suspiciousness and resourcefulness."
If the hunting of grizzlies is to continue, the grizzly must promptly have some protection. Mr. J. A. McGuire, editor of "Outdoor Life," has been working for years to bring about legal protection and intelligent understanding of bears. At last it looks as though he would succeed. But much work is yet to be done before all States give bears proper protection, before bear natural histories are rewritten and bears are appreciated at their real, their high, worth. Writing as a hunter-naturalist, Mr. McGuire says:--