Page:History of Delaware County (1856).djvu/191

DELAWARE COUNTY. 167 diately in front of the bear's liead^ but completely unnoticed by my friend. At the report of his rifle^ the bear descended backwards for about ten feet, then doubled himself in the form of a hoop and fell to the ground. ' It is well known among hunters, that should an old bear be surprised on a tree, he will never descend by sliding down, but, like this bear, roll himself up and fall, sometimes from a most astonishing height, even forty or fifty feet ; in which case he always alights on his, rump, and when on the side of a hill, will roll like a hoop to the bottom. I have, in several in- stances, shot them after such falls, and found the extent of injury received, was a few slight bruises near the root of the tail. Experienced dogs are well aware of this stratagem of the bear, and so soon as he lets go his hold, they will run from under the tree to avoid his fall. This plan, also, the bear adopts to clear himself of dogs, as he knows that should he descend the tree gradually, he must encounter a host of ene- mies the moment he reaches the ground. In the present instance the dogs knew the character of their antagonist, and run so far from under the tree, that the bear had recovered from his fall and ran three hundred yards, ere they could overtake him. The battle now began to rage most furiousty, and we were alarmed for the fate of our dogs, and endeavored to shoot him, but found it impossible to do so, without endangering some of the dogs. He then laid on his back, and would frequently drag some of the dogs to him, in order to squeeze them to death, but being broad across the chest, failed to effect his purpose. This the old dogs knew well, and the moment he would seize them, they v^ould close in with liis breast and slip out backwards from him. Our presence excited the dogs to fight with the utmost ferocity and cxeeding courage, for half an hour, but the bear was an overmatch for them, ;iud we were fearful that he would.