No two animals are alike. Kinds which herd have more sameness than
those that do not, and the Grizzly, being a solitary kind, shows great
individuality. Most Grizzlies mark their length on the trees by
rubbing their backs, and some will turn on the tree and claw it with
their fore paws; others hug the tree with fore paws and rake it with
their hind claws. Gringo's peculiarity of marking was to rub first,
then turn and tear the trunk with his teeth.
It was on examining one of the Bear trees one day that Kellyan
discovered the facts. He had been tracking the Bear all morning, had a
fine set of tracks in the dusty trail, and thus learned that the
rifle-wound was a toe-shot in the hind foot, but his fore foot of the
same side had a large round wound, the one really made by the cow's
horn. When he came to the Bear tree where Gringo had carved his
initials, the marks were clearly made by the Bear's teeth, and one of
the upper tusks was broken off, so the evidence of identity was
complete.
"It's the same old B'ar," said Lan to his pard.
They failed to get sight of him in all this time, so the partners set
to work at a series of Bear-traps. These are made of heavy logs and
have a sliding door of hewn planks. The bait is on a trigger at the
far end; a tug on this lets the door drop. It was a week's hard work
to make four of these traps. They did not set them at once, for no
Bear will go near a thing so suspiciously new-looking.
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