Lonesome Dove: The Texas Bull Battles a Grizzly

A grizzly bear terrifies the herd and the crew, but the Texas bull fights it to a draw.

The sounds the two animals made were so frightening that they made the men want to run. Jasper Fant wanted badly to run — he just didn't want to run alone. Now and then he would see the bear's head, teeth bared, or his great claws slashing; now and then he would see the bull seem to turn to bunched muscle as he tried to force the bear backward. Both were bleeding, and in the heat the blood smell was so strong that Newt almost gagged. Then it stopped. Everyone expected to see the bull down — but the bull wasn't down. Neither was the bear. They broke apart, circling one another in the dust. Everyone prepared to pour bullets into the bear if he should charge their way, but the bear didn't charge. He snarled at the bull, the bull answering with a slobbery bellow. The bull turned back toward the herd, then stopped and faced the bear. The bear rose on his hind legs again, still snarling — one side was soaked with blood. To the men, the bear seemed to tower over them, although fifty yards away. In a minute, he dropped back on all fours, roared once more at the bull, and disappeared into the brush along the creek.

Photo: Encyclopedia Britannica

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