Democratic Sentinel, Volume 5, Number 4, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 March 1881 — A Sagacious Bear. [ARTICLE]

A Sagacious Bear.

The Captain of a Greenland whaler, being anxious to procure a bear without damaging the skin, made trial of the btratagem of laying down the noose of a rope in the snow and placing a piece of meat within it. A bear was soon enticed to the spot by the smell of the meat. He saw the bait, approached and seized it in his mouth, but his foot at the same time, by a jerk of the rope, got entangled in the noose; he pushed it off his paw and retired. After having eaten the piece of meat, which he carried away with him, he returned. The noose, with another bait, had been replaced; he pushed the rope aside and again walked off. A third time the noose was laid, but, excited to more caution by the evident observation of the bear, the sailors buried the rope beneath the snow and laid the meat in a deep hole in the center. Once more the bear approached, and the sailors were hopeful of their success ; but bruin, more sagacious than they expected, after snuffing about the place for a few moments, scraped the snow away with his paw, threw the rope aside, and again escaped with his prize. — Sunday-School Advocate.