SPEED OF BEARS 87

end of a time with the mother, as she was an old bear
and determined to drive us away. Time after time she
would run at us. At first we drove her off by throwing
sticks and stones at her, but she got used to them and
became so bold that at last she came to within a few feet
of us. We did not want to kill her if we could avoid
doing so, as it was too late in the year for her skin to
be of much value, but it looked as if we should have to
do so, However, when a rifle was fired into the ground
within a few feet of her nose she backed off for a distance,
though she would not leave us entirely and followed right
out to the road where we had a car. That was the last
she-bear I ever bothered, or ever will, nor would I, on any
account, shoot a she-bear with cubs. There is nothing
more distressing than to witness the grief of the cubs
when they find their mother is dead; they moan and
ery and often actually shed tears, just as a human being
will.

The pace of a bear is most deceptive. When they are
walking you might imagine that they are not moving very
fast, and it looks as if their speed were not much greater
when they get a bit of a scare and amble off. Neverthe-
less a bear can travel at a tremendous pace for long
distances, unless he has fattened up preparatory for
his winter fast. Many years ago when I kept a ‘‘ bobbery
pack” for hunting the bears gave me excellent examples
of what they could do in the way of running. Once
in a while, when they were extremely fat or conditions
exceptionally favourable for the pack, they would
only run short distances before they stopped to fight
their pursuers off, or, in the case of a young bear, climb
a tree, but frequently it would take an hour or two to
wind them; time after time they have made a bee-line
over the mountains or straight down a valley, and run
elean away from the pack altogether.

During the winter months most bears hibernate for
longer or shorter periods, according to locality and the
weather. Occasionally the winter is so mild in the vicinity
of Vancouver that the bears do not den up at all, or, if

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