Description

Despite their large size (even the
volume of their breath could give
them away as they hibernated in snowcovered
dens), and the constant encroachment
of civilization on their
ranges, Island bears could feel, with
Mark Twain, that reports of their death
were greatly exaggerated during the
19th century. In 1806, John Stewart
wrote that "in less than half a century,
I have no doubt but the bears will be
entirely extirpated." John MacGregor
wrote in 1828 that "they are now much
reduced in number and rarely met
with"; 11 years later, S. S. Hill opined
that "they will soon disappear." In
the 1850s, Isabella Lucy Bird, author
of The English Woman in America,
observed that "Bears, which used to be
a great attraction to the more adventurous
class of sportsman, are, however,
rapidly disappearing"; but since the
lady spent most of her Island visit in
Charlottetown, we can be certain only
that the animals avoided city streets.