Moreover, if attacked at close quarters by men and dogs he
strikes right and left in defence.
Sometimes what is called a charge is rather an effort to get away. In
localities where he has been hunted, a bear, like every other kind of
game, is always on the look-out for an attack, and is prepared at any
moment for immediate flight. He seems ever to have in his mind,
whether feeding, sunning himself, or merely roaming around, the
direction--usually towards the thickest cover or most broken ground--in
which he intends to run if molested. When shot at he instantly starts
towards this place; or he may be so confused that he simply runs he
knows not whither; and in either event he may take a line that leads
almost directly to or by the hunter, although he had at first no thought
of charging. In such a case he usually strikes a single knock-down blow
and gallops on without halting, though that one blow may have taken
life. If the claws are long and fairly sharp (as in early spring, or
even in the fall, if the animal has been working over soft ground) they
add immensely to the effect of the blow, for they cut like blunt axes.
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