There is a world somewhere between reality and fiction. Although ignored by many, it is very real and so are those living in it. This forum is about the natural world. Here, wild animals will be heard and respected. The forum offers a glimpse into an unknown world as well as a room with a view on the present and the future. Anyone able to speak on behalf of those living in the emerald forest and the deep blue sea is invited to join.
Continued from post #120... Second Bull. "In rode four horsemen and threw riatas around the feet of the dead bull, while the grizzly did his ferocious best to get at them. As they dragged the body of the vanquished victim out one gate, the runway to the bullpen was opened once more and a second bull, a big black one with tail up, as if to switch the moon, charged into the arena. On his head glistened horns so long and sharp that it seemed impossible for the bear ever to reach the head with his death-dealing paws before being impaled. "But this problem did not seem to worry the grizzly. He had not been living on cattle for so many years without knowing a lot about their movements. When his new antagonist came at him he dodged as easily as a trained human bullfighter, and as the bull shot past him, down came one big paw on the bovine's neck, with a whack that sounded all over the adobe corral. A chorus of shouts went up from the rows of swarthy faces, with here and there a white face, as the victim, turning partly over, went down with a plunge that made one of his horns plow up the dirt, then break sharp off under the terrific pressure of his weight and momentum. "The bull was not done for; he tried to rise and Bruin made a dash for him, but his tethers held him short of his goal. In a second the bull got to his feet and wheeled around with one of those short twists that makes him so dangerous an antagonist. But once he's wheeled around, his course is generally straight ahead, and a quick dodger can avoid him; however, he is lightening-like in his charge, and something or somebody is likely to be overhauled in short order. So it was this time, and before the bear could recover from the confusion into which he had been thrown by being brought up short by his tether, the bull caught him in the shoulder with his remaining horn. "Few things in nature are tougher than the shoulder of a grizzly bear, and a mere sideswing without the full weight of a running bull behind it was insufficient to make even this sharp horn penetrate. The bear staggered, but the horn glanced from the ponderous bone, leaving a long gash in the shaggy hide. This only angered Bruin the more. He made a grab for the head of the bull but again was foreshorted by the riatas, which allowed him only a limited scope of action. "The bull returned to the charge as soon as he could turn himself around and aimed the long horn full at his enemy's breast. But just as the horn seemed reaching its mark the grizzly grabbed the bull's head with both paws and twisted it half round with nose inward. The nose he seized with his great white teeth, and over both went in a swirl of dust, while the crowd roared and cheered. "Now one could see exactly why cattle found killed by bears always have their necks broken. Bears do not go through the slow process of strangling or bleeding their victims, but do business on scientific principles. "This time the grizzly rose more slowly than before; nevertheless he rose, while the bull lay still in death.
Continued from post #121... Third Bull. "The owners of the bear now wanted to stop the show, but from all sides rose a roar of 'Otro! Otro! Otro! Otro toro!' - 'Another! Another! Another! Another bull!' The owners protested that the bear was disabled and was too valuable to sacrifice needlessly; that a dead bull was worth as much as a live one, and more, but that the same arithmetic did not hold good for a bear. The clamor of the crowd grew minute by minute, for the sight of blood gushing from the bear's shoulder was too much for the equilibrium of an audience like this one. "Soon another bull shot toward the center of the arena. Larger than the rest but thinner, more rangy, he opened negotiations with even more vigor, more speed. With thundering thump of great hoofs, his head wagging from side to side, eyes flashing green fire, he drove full at the bear with full force. The grizzly was a trifle clumsy this time and as he rose to his hind feet the bull gave a twist of his head that upset the calculations of the bear. Right into the base of the bear's neck went a long, sharp horn, at the same time that the two powerful paws closed down on the bull's neck from above. A distinct crack was heard. The bull sank forward carrying the bear over backwards with a heavy thump against the big post to which he was tied.
Continued from post #122... "Again the horsemen rode in to drag out a dead bull. But the grizzly now looked weary and pained. Another powwow with his owners ensued, while the crowd yelled more loudly than ever for another bull. The owners protested that it was unfair, but the racket rose louder and louder, for the audience knew that there was one bull left, the biggest and wildest of the lot. "The crowd won, but Bruin was given a little more room in which to fight. Vaqueros rode in, and while two lassoed his fore-paws and spread him out in front, the other two loosened his ropes behind so as to give him more play. He now had about half the length of a riata. Allowing him a breathing spell, which he spent trying to bite off the riatas, the gate of the bullpen was again thrown open.
Continued from post #123... Fourth Bull. "Out dashed an old red rover of the hills, and the way he went for the bear seemed to prove him another old acquaintance. He seemed anxious to make up for the many times he had flown from the distant scent that had warned him that the bear was in the same mountains. With lowered head turned to one side so as to aim one horn at the enemy's breast, he cleared the distance in half a dozen leaps. "The bear was still slower than before in getting to his hind feet, and his right paw slipped as he grabbed the bull's head. He failed to twist it over. The horn struck him near the base of the neck, and the bull and bear went rolling over together. "Loud cheers for the bull rose as the bear scrambled to his feet, showed blood coming from a hole in his neck almost beside the first wound. Still louder roared the applause as the bull regained his feet. Lashing his sides with his tail and bounding high in fury he wheeled and returned to the fray. The bear rolled himself over like a ball and would have been on his feet safely had not one foot caught in the riata which tied him to the post. Unable to meet the bull's charge with both hind feet solid on the ground, he fell forward against his antagonist and received one horn full in the breast, up to the hilt. "But a grizzly keeps on fighting even after a thrust to the heart. Again he struggled to his feet, the blood gushing from the new wound. With stunning quickness in so large an animal, the bull had withdrawn his horn, gathered himself together, and returned to the charge. The bear could not turn in time to meet him, and with a heavy smash the horn struck him squarely in the shoulder forward of the protecting bone. Those who have seen the longest horns driven full to the hilt through the shoulder of a horse - a common sight in the bullfights of Mexico - can understand why the bear rolled over backwards to rise no more."
Continued from post #124...
With the American period, which began with the gold rush, came a change in the attitude bear-and-bull fights. The fights, which had been rooted in the traditions of Spain and were an integral part of the fiestas and religious holidays of Spanish California, now were cheapened and commercialized for the benefit of the newcomers. In all sincerity, a Spanish Californian could say that "A bull and a bear fight after the sabbath services in church was indeed a happy occasion. It was a soul-refreshing sight to see the growling beasts of blood" ( Bancroft, 1888 ). But to the American of those days - who did not care a whit for the traditions of California, and who could not comprehend the Spaniard's emotional association of religion, violence, and blood - a bear-and-bull fight was a disgusting spectacle. He believed that anyone who attended such a fight did so because of curiosity or a depraved lust for the sordid and sensational. A newcomer to California said, "A bull and bear fight is of all exhibitions... the most cruel and senseless" ( Marryat, 1855 ).
Continued from post #127...
However, "dissipation and rioting was a universal indulgence, and in absence of other kinds of amusements bull and bear fights became a very popular divertisement. Admission to these shows of animal ferocity ranged from ten to twenty-five dollars." The fights were conducted by two Mexican managers in such a way that "usually several combats could be had between a bull and bear before either was killed, which made this novel sport one of immense profit to those who owned the animals." ( Buel, 1882 ).
The revenue-producing aspect of these contests early received official attention. In 1853 the California legislature made provision for licensing bear-and-bull fights, imposing a tax of twenty dollars per exhibition, payable into the local county treasury ( Stats., 1853 ). In 1856 an amendment provided that half the receipts go to the state ( Stats., 1856 ), and in 1863 ( Stats. ) the fee was raised to twenty-five dollars and the permit was to be issued by the State Comptroller ( letter, T. H. Mugford, May 19, 1954 ).
07-22-2016, 02:22 PM( This post was last modified: 07-22-2016, 02:29 PM by brotherbear )
Continued from post #128... At first, the commercialized fights, advertised by garish posters, attracted great crowds. They were held on Sundays in most of the mining towns as well as in the booming pioneer cities of Sacramento and San Francisco. It is said that Horace Greeley was so impressed by the fights that he coined the terminology which is still used by Wall Street ( Potter, 1945 ).
Preparations for the first fights held in Sacramento in the summer of 1851 were noted by the German traveler Carl Meyer ( 1938 ): "A long grandstand was built at the mile-long race track in Brighton, six miles from the city. The entrance price was $2.50 and enormous placards on every street corner announced for weeks ahead the glorious fight between the American gray bear 'General Scott' and the Mexican bull 'Sant Anna.' " The bear was valued at $1,500.
The Bear will be chained with a twenty-foot chain in the middle of the arena. The Bull will be perfectly wild, young, of the Spanish breed, and the best that can be found in the country. The Bull's horns will be of their natural length, and "not sawed off to prevent accidents." The Bull will be quite free in the arena, and not hampered in any way whatever.
The bear made his appearance before the public in a very bearish manner. His cage ran upon very small wheels, and some bolts having been slipped connected with the face of it, it was dragged out of the ring, when, as his chain only allowed him to come within a foot or two of the fence, the General was rolled out upon the ground all of a heap, and very much against his inclination, apparently, for he made violent efforts to regain his cage as it disappeared. When he saw that was hopeless, he floundered half-way round the ring at the length of his chain, and commenced to tear up the earth with his fore-paws. He was a grizzly bear of pretty large size, weighing about 1200 pounds.
The next thing to be done was to introduce the bull. The bars between his pen and the arena were removed, while two or three men stood ready to put them up again as soon as he should come out. But he did not seem to like the prospect, and was disposed to move till pretty sharply poked up from behind, when, making a furious dash at the red flag which was being waved in front of the gate, he found himself in the ring face-to-face with General Scott.
The General, in the meantime, had scraped a hole for himself two or three inches deep, in which he was lying down. This, I was told by those who had seen his performances before, was his usual fighting attitude.
07-22-2016, 09:09 PM( This post was last modified: 07-22-2016, 09:45 PM by Pckts )
"Sometimes the bear and bull were tied together to keep them fighting, usually the bear killed the bull, but not always. Some bears and bulls won fame for their repeated victories and earned nicknames like “the celebrated Bull-killing Bear, General Scott” and “the terrible Mexican bull Sant’ Anna”(Snyder, 126). Each species had a distinct fighting style: the bull generally tried to charge the bear with its horns, gore it, and then lift its head to throw the bear up; the bear usually tried to grab the bull by its face to control and avoid the bull’s sharp horns, and then pulled the bull’s face down while scratching the bull’s body with its claws"
From the accounts listed, one can come to these conclusions...
-Bears were the victor more often than the Bull, but both had wins and losses
-Both had specific individuals renowned for their victories over the other
-Individuals of both species were in good shape, healthy and strong animals
-The spanish brought their fighting bulls to California, then they began to test their bulls against the Grizzly
-Sometimes the bulls would have their horns shaved
-These occasions were usually held during a holiday or as a large event, thousands of people would come to watch
-Even in a time of acceptance, the event was still seen as "cruel" to some.
As for the bulls having their horns shaved, I believe that this was sometimes done in the American bear-and-bull fights; which came after the gold rush. The Spanish had a huge amount of respect for their bulls and knew how to handle and control them.
Continued from post #131...
The bull was a very beautiful animal, of a dark purple colour marked with white. His horns were regular and sharp, and his coat was as smooth and glossy as a racer's. He stood for a moment taking a survey of the bear, the ring, and the crowds of people; but not liking the appearance of things in general, he wheeled round, and made a splended dash at the bars, which had already been put up between him and his pen, smashing through them with as much ease as the man in the circus leaps through a hoop of brown paper. This was only losing time, however, for he had to go in and fight...
He was accordingly again persuaded to enter the arena, and a perfect barracade of bars and boards was erected to prevent his making another retreat. But this time he had made up his mind to fight; and after looking steadily at the bear for a few minutes as if taking aim at him, he put his down his head and charged furiously at him across the arena. The bear received him crouching down as low as he could, and though one could hear the bump of the bull's head and horns upon his ribs, he was quick enough to seize the bull by the nose before he could retreat. This spirited commencement of the battle on the part of the bull was hailed with uproarious applause; and by having shown such pluck, he had gained more than ever the sympathy of the people.
Bears as Predators ~
