Russian Brown Bears

[brotherbear]

Brown Bear ( Ursus arctos ) from the book "Notes of an East Siberian Hunter" by A.A. Cherkassov and translated by Vladimir Beregovoy and Stephen Bodio - 1865.

I begin my account of mammals with the bear, who certainly holds first place among our predators because of his enormous strength and boldness, and the difficulty of hunting him. All other animals are afraid of the bear, except for the moose and the wild boar. Even they occasionally become his prey. How many hunters have killed a bear? Of course, very few, compared to the total number of people who claim to be hunters. It is not because the number of bears has declined, or because they are difficult to find; it is not so! Here, fear plays the most important role... I knew many hunters who were excellent marksmen but who did not like spring hunting, even for hazel hens, because they were afraid of meeting a bear. Of course, nobody admits this. However, a Siberian promyshlennik is constantly in the forest, and he doesn't worry about bears! To the contrary, he is always seeking a chance to find one. However, "it is a small flock that has no black sheep". There are Siberian promyshleniks who hunt only because they are poor, and these hunters are very afraid of meeting bears. As usual, they hope "God will save us!" Reply