Identifier: russia00dobsrich (find matches)
Title: Russia;
Year: 1913 (1910s)
Authors: Dobson, George Grove, Henry M Stewart, Hugh, 1884-1934 Haenen, F. de
Subjects: Soviet Union -- Description and travel
Publisher: London, A. and C. Black
Contributing Library: University of California Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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y. The forests arefull, also, of foxes, wolves, and rugged Russianbears. A berlog, or winter home of a bear, iseasily marked after the first snowfall, for round it,before he settles for his long slumber, the bearmakes a perfect labyrinth of tracks, qua signasequendi jaileret indeprcnsus error. Then laterin the season the peasants sell it to a town sports-man, and if a bear is found at home they receivefrom £4 to £6. On being disturbed, the bear oftenshoots up like a cork out of a soda-water bottle,scattering a shower of powdery snow, and is shotwhile his eyes are still blinded by the light. Somekeen sportsmen and peasants go bear-huntingarmed with nothing but knives. Wolves are hunted in several ways. Oneamusing way, a trifle more exciting than a similarruse described by Herodotus for killing the hippo-potamus, is to attract them at night by taking apig in a sledge through the forest, and by pullingits tail and making it squeak. In summer orautumn they are hunted on horseback in the
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THE NORTH 323 manner so graphically described in War andPeace, with hounds trained to spring simul-taneously one to the right and a second to the leftof the animals throat. Then a huntsman gallopsup, springs from his horse on to the wolfs back,and plunges his knife in its heart. If the wolfmanages to turn his head, the huntsman mustexpect a mauling. 1 have seen a heavy knife witha large piece of good Sheffield steel snapped off injust such a case by a wolfs powerful jaws. Butthe more common though less exhilarating methodof hunting is followed in winter. When a packsettles in any place, the carcass of an old horse isleft from time to time to keep them from strayingelsewhere. Then one fine morning, having madesure that the wolves are there, the hunters sallyout for their destruction. The beaters ring themin with fluttering red flags on ropes hung lightlyon shrubs, or, if the ground be open, woundround poles set in the snow. These lines of redflags converge at one end, arid here the gun

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