The Living Animals of the World, Volume I: Mammals

THE COMMON BROWN BEAR.

Only one species of bear is found in Europe south of the ice-line, though above it the white is the BROWN BEAR, theice-bear inhabits Spitzbergen and the islands off the White Sea. This emblem of Eussia in all European caricature, and the hero of innumerable fragments of folklore and fable, from the tents of the Lapps to the nurseries of English children. Except the isice-bear, it is far the largest of European carnivora, but varies much in size. Eussia the main home of the brown bear, but it is found in Sweden and Norway, and right across Northern Asia. It is also common in the Carpathian Mountains, in the Caucasus, and in Mount Pindus in Greece. In the south it is found in Spain and the Pyrenees, and a few are left in the Alps. The dancing-bears commonly brought to England are caught in the its owner was allowed to exhibit it atPyrenees. The " Queen's bear," so called because Windsor, was one of these. But lately dancing-bears from Servia and Wallachia have also been seen about our roads and streets. In Eussia the bear grows to a great size. Some have been killed of 800 Ibs. in weight. The fur is magnificent in winter, and in great demand

for rich Russians’ sledge-rugs. The finest bear-skins of all are bought for the caps of our own Grenadier and Coldstream Guards. In the Alps the bears occasionally visit a cow-shed in winter and kill a cow; but. _as a rule the only damage done by those in Europe is to the sheep on the hills in the far north of Norway. Tame brown bears are amusing creatures, but should never be trusted. They are always liable to turn savage, and the bite is almost as severe as that of a tiger. Men have had their heads completely crushed in by the bite of one of these animals. In Russia bears are shot in the following manner. When the snow falls, the bears retire into the densest thickets, and there make a half-hut, half-burrow in the most tangled part to hibernate in. The bear is tracked, and then a ring made round the cover by beaters and peasants. The shooters follow the track and rouse the bear, which often charges them, and is forthwith shot. If it escapes, it is driven in by the beaters outside. High fees are paid to peasants who send information that a bear is harboured in this way. Sportsmen in St. Petersburg will go 300 or 400 miles to shoot one on receipt of a telegram. The brown bear, like the reindeer and red deer, is found very little modified all across Northern Asia, and again in the forests of North America. There, however, it undergoes a change. Just as the red deer is found represented by a much larger creature, the wapiti, so the brown bear is found exaggerated into the great bear of Alaska. The species attains its largest, possibly, in Kamchatka, on the Asiatic side of Bering Sea; but the Alaskan bear has the credit with sportsmen of being the largest. A skin of one of the former, brought to the sale-rooms of Sir Charles Lampson & Co., needed two men to carry it. Last spring, in the sale-rooms of the same great firm, some persons present measured the skin of ar Alaskan bear which was 9 feet across the shoulders from paw to paw. tin ee mae - Photo by E, Landor] (Eating,

SYRIAN BEAR.

This is the bear generally alluded to in the Old Testament. THE GrRizzty Bear. This is a very distinct race of brown bear. It has a flat profile, like the polar bear; in addition it grows to a great size, is barely able to climb trees, and has the largest claws of any—they have been known to measure 5 inches along the curve. The true grizzly, which used to be found as far north as 61° latitude and south as far as Mexico, is a rare dear attains, animal now. Its turn for cattle-killing made the Photo by W. P. Dando} {Regent's Park.

LARGE RUSSIAN BROWN BEAR.

The picture shows to what a size and strength the brown

The Bears

ranchmen poison it, and rendered the task an easy one. It is now only found in the Northern Rocky Mountains, and perhaps in North California and Nevada. Formerly encounters with "Old Ephraim," as the trappers called this bear, were numerous and deadly. It attacked men if attacked by them, and often without provocation. The horse, perhaps more than its rider, was the object of the bear. Lewis and Clarke measured a grizzly which was 9 feet long from nose to tail. The weight sometimes reaches 800 Ibs. Measurements of much larger grizzly bears have been recorded, but it is difficult to credit them. On a ranche near the upper waters of the Colorado River several colts were taken by grizzly bears. One of them was found buried according to the custom of this bear, and the owner sat up to shoot the animal. Having only the old-fashioned small-bored rifle of the day, excellent for shooting deer or Indians, but useless against so massive a beast as this bear, unless hit it. The bear rushed in, struck him a blow with itsin the head or heart, he only wounded paw (the paw measures a foot across), smashed the rifle which he held up as a protection, and struck the barrel on to his head. The man fell insensible, when the bear, having satisfied himself that he was dead, picked him up, carried him off, and buried him in another hole which it scratched near the dead colt. It then dug up the colt and ate part of it, and went off. Some time later the man came to his senses, and awoke to find himself " dead and buried." As the earth was only roughly thrown over him, he scrambled out, and saw close by the half-eaten remains of the colt. Thinking that it might be about the bear's dinnertime, and remembering that he was probably put by in the larder for the next meal, he hurried home at once, and did not trouble the bear again. Not so a Siberian peasant, who had to shoot a bear, and went outmuch the same adventure. He had been laughed at for wishing into the woods to do so. The bear had the best of it, knocked him down, and so frightfully mangled his arm that he fainted. Bruin then buried him in orthodox bear fashion; and the man, when he came to, which he fortunately did before the bear came back, got up, and made his way to the village. There he was for a long time ill, and all through his sickness and delirium talked of Whennothing but shooting the bear. he got well, he disappeared into the forest with his gun, and after a short absence

!returned with the bear's skin

THE AMERICAN BROWN BEAR.

The brown bear of America is closely allied to that of Europe; it was first described by Sir John Richardson, who called it the Barrenlands Bear, and noted, that it differed from the quite rightly, grizzly in the smallness of its claws. The difference in the profile is very marked the brown bear having a profile like that of the European bear, while that of the grizzly is flat. The brown bear of North America lives largely on the fruits Photo ly New York Zoological Society. and berries of the northern plants, on AMERICAN BLACK BEAR. settlers on the the early first encountered by of which was the species bear fish, black on The and putrid dead deer, Mountain region. the Rocky The belongs to grizzly of America. side Atlantic of the banks the left on are quantities

n8 The Living Animals of the World

northern rivers. Whether the large brown bear of the Rocky Mountains is always a grizzly or often this less formidable race is doubtful. The writer inclines to think that it is only the counterpart of the North European and the North Asiatic brown bear. is Sir Samuel The following Baker's account of these bears. : " When I was in He says California, experienced in-formants told me that no

Photo by L. Mcdland, F.Z.S.] [North Finchley. true grizzly bear was to be YOUNG SYRIAN BEAR FROM THE CAUCASUS. This is, properly speaking, a Syrian bear, but the species is found in the Caucasus and in the Taurus found east of the Pacific Range. slope, and that Lord Coke was the only Britisher who had ever killed a real grizzly in California. There are numerous bears of three if not four kinds in the Rocky Mountains. These are frequently termed grizzlies; but it is a misnomer. The true grizzly is far superior in size, but of similar habits, and its weight is from 1,200 Ibs. to 1,400 Ibs." After giving various reasons for believing this to be a fair weight, Sir Samuel is equivalent to that of an English cart-horse. There are certainlyBaker adds that this weight three Rocky Mountain bears the Grizzly, the Brown, and the small Black Bear. There is probably also another a cross between the black and the brown. It is ridiculous to say that the brown bears which come to eat the refuse on the dust-heaps of the hotels in the Yellowstone Park, and let ladies photograph them, are savage grizzly bears.

THE SYRIAN BEAR.

This bear, which figures in the story of Elisha, is a variety of the brown bear. It is found from the Caucasus to the mountains of Palestine, and is a smaller animal than the true is of a mixed rusty colour, with abrown bear, weighing about 300 Ibs. The fur in summer whitish collar on the chest. It steals the grapes on Mount Horeb, and feeds upon ripe fruits, apples, chestnuts, corn, and the like. It is then ready to face the long winter sleep.

THE AMERICAN BLACK BEAR.

This is the smallest North American species, and perhaps the most harmless. It seldom its flesh, especially in autumn, isweighs more than 400 Ibs. Its coat is short and glossy, and esteemed for food. The early backwoodsmen found it a troublesome neighbour. The bears itliked Indian corn, and were not averse to a young pig. " Like the deer," says Audubon, " changes its haunts with the seasons, and for the same reason viz. the desire of obtaining food. During the spring months it searches for food in the low alluvial lands that border the rivers, or by the margins of the inland lakes. There it procures abundance of succulent roots, and of the tender, juicy stems of plants, upon which it chiefly feeds at that season. During the summer heat it enters the gloomy swamps, and passes much of its time in wallowing in the mud like a hog, and contents itself with crayfish, roots, and nettles; now and then, when calf. As soon as thehard pressed by hunger, it seizes a young pig, or perhaps a sow or different kinds of berries ripen, the bears betake themselves to the high grounds, followed by their cubs. In much-retired parts of the country, where there are no hilly grounds, it pays visits to the maize-fields, which it ravages for a while. After this the various kinds of nuts and grapes, acorns and other forest fruits, attract its attention. The black bear is then seen