Bears as Predators ~

[brotherbear]

The Grizzly Book by Jack Samson - A Soitary Beast by Michael Jenkinson.
On the open range, the great bears became skilled predators of cattle. Unaccustomed as they were to defiance from their prey, they rarely backed off when challenged by the tough, sharp-horned bulls, and fights were not uncommon. Wanderer J. Ross Browne observed one of these struggles from the safety of a tree branch:
The grizzly no sooner got within reach of the bull's horns than he seized them in his powerful grasp, keeping the head to the ground by main strength and the tremendous weight of his body, while he bit at the nose with his teeth, and raked strips of flesh from his shoulders, with his hind paws.

Suddenly the bull wrenched his head from the grasp of his adversary and retreated a few steps. The bull charged with such impetuous force that the bear, despite the most terrific blows with his paws, rolled over in the dust. By a well-directed motion ( the bull ) got one of his horns under the bear's belly.

The bull made another charge, was knocked down, and both animals rolled in desperate struggle, the grizzly biting and clawing, the bull attempting to break away, to get to its feet for another charge. The bull although badly injured and wobbly, charged the mortally gored bear, and killed it.

Then, as Browne noted, "The bull uttered a deep bellowing sound, shook his horns triumphantly, and slowly walked off. As the blood streamed from his wounds, a death-chill came over him. Finally, his body became motionless, and the victor was dead."

*Note: in most of those witnessed fights between range bull ( Texas Longhorn ) and grizzly, the bear killed the bull. Of course, there were exceptions when the bull killed the bear or, as in this fight, they killed each other. We must keep in mind that a grizzly will not, as a general rule, choose a mature bull or cow as prey; they go after the calves. When a grizzly fights a bull, it is the bull which initiates the fight. This always results in a face-to-face battle between these two powerful titans. Reply