His long fore claws, ill-suited for climbing, can deal destruction. He swims well, and runs like the wind in the open; he’s been timed in 30-mile-an-hour- bursts. Keen hearing and a superlative sense of smell compensate for poor eyesight. He coughs, grunts, sniffs, “growls like distant thunder.”

Ursus horribilis- horrible bear – was the name that flashed through the naturalist George Ord’s mind when reading Lewis and Clark’s descriptions of the grizzly. Lewis confessed that he would rather “fight two Indians than one bear.”

The Bear’s common name, as well as his nickname “silvertip,” refers to his grizzled coat. Light-tipped hairs give a frosty sheen to his deep fur. Usually brown, it may be yellowish, gray, or black.

Grizzlies mate in midsummer. Mother bear gives birth in her winter den to eight-inch-long cubs, generally twins. A bear reaches maturity in eight to ten years and may live to 30. The grizzly’s lifelong interest is his stomach. “To him almost everything is food, except granite,” quipped naturalist John Muir. The bear stuffs himself with grass, roots, nuts, berries, fish, and small animals. He relishes carrion, delights in pilfering honey, occasionally catches a sheep, goat, or an elk.

Sometimes a frontier bear turned rustler. One Colorado renegade, “Old Mose,” allegedly killed 800 steers and at least five men. Thousand-dollar rewards for such outlaws hastened the grizzly’s doom. His hide was sought or rugs, his fat made cooking and hair oil. In gold-rush days bear-steak and roasted paw were delicacies.

Indians revered the grizzly; some claimed him ancestor. He could stand on his hind legs like a man, but was mighter; arrows seldom felled him. Honor and glory came to the brave who killed one. A Sioux chief vowed he would sooner part with his wife than his necklace of grizzly claws.

Of the thousands of grizzlies that once roamed the West from Kansas to California, only a few hundred remain-some in Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks. Other closely related forms of grizzlies are found in Alaska, Canada, and Mexico.

Shoulder height 3-4 ft. Weight 400-1,000 lbs. Range: Alaska and arctic Canada south to Colorado; mountains of northern Mexico. Characteristics: grizzled coat, shoulder hump, concave face, long claws.

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