"dangerous." No doubt in exceptional instances this is true; exactly as
it is true that in exceptional instances it is "dangerous" for a butcher
to knock over a steer in the slaughter-house. A bear caught only by the
toes may wrench itself free as the hunter comes near, and attack him
with pain-maddened fury; or if followed at once, and if the trap and bar
are light, it may be found in some thicket, still free, and in a frenzy
of rage. But even in such cases the beast has been crippled, and though
crazy with pain and anger is easily dealt with by a good shot; while
ordinarily the poor brute is found in the last stages of exhaustion,
tied tight to a tree where the log or bar has caught, its teeth broken
to splinted stumps by rabid snaps at the cruel trap and chain. Some
trappers kill the trapped grislies with a revolver; so that it may
easily be seen that the sport is not normally dangerous. Two of my own
cowboys, Seawell and Dow, were originally from Maine, where they had
trapped a number of black bears; and they always killed them either with
a hatchet or a small 32-calibre revolver. One of them, Seawell, once
came near being mauled by a trapped bear, seemingly at the last gasp
which he approached incautiously with his hatchet.

There is, however, one very real danger to which the solitary
bear-trapper is exposed, the danger of being caught in his own trap. The
huge jaws of the gin are easy to spring and most hard to open. If any
unwary passer-by should tread between them and be caught by the leg, his
fate would be doubtful, though he would probably die under the steadily
growing torment of the merciless iron jaws, as they pressed ever deeper
into the sore flesh and broken bones. But if caught by the arms, while
setting or fixing the trap, his fate would be in no doubt at all, for it
would be impossible for the stoutest man to free himself by any means.
Terrible stories are told of solitary mountain hunters who disappeared,
and were found years later in the lonely wilderness, as mouldering