ar are caught and allowed to remain in the trap until the
bear gnaws or twists off his foot and often the bear is caught the
second time and another is taken off, when the bear is destined to go
through life on two feet. Now in all of my more than fifty years of
bear trapping, I have never known a bear to gnaw his foot in the
least degree. Neither have I had a bear twist off his foot when
caught in a trap that has a spread of jaws no larger than 12 inches,
which will catch a bear through the thick of a foot. The Newhouse No.
5 bear trap which is the most common trap used in bear trapping, has
a spread of jaws of 11 1/4 inches.

The law which is now (1910) in force in this state provided that a
bear trap must be looked to at least every forty-eight hours. Under
these conditions, there is no danger of a bear twisting off a foot.
It is true that if a trap is used with a grasp high enough to catch
above the foot and the bear is allowed to remain in the trap for a
long time, they will sometimes twist off a foot.

But this sympathetic M. D. makes no mention of the bear that is
wounded by a gunshot, escapes and lies for weeks, and then dies or
recovers as the case may be. The wounding of a bear from a gunshot is
far more liable to occur than it is to take a bear's foot by being
caught in a trap.

This sympathetic doctor makes no mention of the farmer who has a
number of sheep killed by bears, which is almost an every day
occurrence during the summer season in any section where bear
frequent.

Now, Brother Trappers, it is not the great sympathy that these
gentlemen club men have for the bear. No, not in the least. What
these gentlemen want is to drive the lowly bear trapper out of
business, so that those very sympathetic gentlemen may more easily
kill a bear without losing too much of their precious sweat, and not
be compelled to get too far from camp and the champagne bottle.

Now, Brother Bear Trappers, my object in writing these few lines is
to ask you and each of you to write your respective representative at
once, advising him that you are opposed to any law to abolish the
trapping of the bear.

I believe that I was the first to advocate some remedy against the
wasteful slaughter of the fur bearing animals through the medium of
our favorite magazine, the Hunter-Trader-Trapper. I urged that the
remedy was with the large raw fur dealers by refusing to accept skins
that were not in a reasonably prime condition. Since