THE ADIRONDACK BLACK BEAR. 247 



where Mr. Stevens went to see and identify it. The animal was reduced almost to 

 skin and bones. 



In the Southern States the black bear is hunted with dogs, who chase, bark at 

 him, and bite his hind legs, and, being more spry of foot than he, manage to avoid 

 the stroke of his paws. This torment is kept up until the bear in his desperation 

 and desire to escape his tormenters climbs a tree, where the dogs bark and keep his 

 attention until the hunter comes up and shoots him. I have never known bears 

 successfully hunted with dogs in the Adirondacks, and I have never known them to 

 climb trees to escape their pursuers, nor have I known dogs to follow them sue- 

 fully ; they either lead over some cliff where dogs cannot follow, or they success- 

 fully turn and drive them off. 



The bear is a good swimmer, and does not hesitate to cross a lake several miles 

 wide when it lies in his course. It is probable that the habit of hibernating is 

 undergoing a change among these animals in the Adirondacks. 



When I began to take an interest in this species, hunters used to tell me that the 

 practice of " holing" during the winter was far from universal ; that it was common 

 to find bear tracks in the woods during the whole winter; and that they were fre- 

 quently followed on snowshoes and killed. Merriam in his " Mammals of the Adi- 

 rondacks " says that bears frequently roam around all winter, or only retire for a 

 short time when food fails, this being particularly true of the old males. It has 

 been many years since I have seen a bear track after the cold weather really began ; 

 and hunters and men who spend a great deal of time in the woods tell me they 

 never see bear tracks in the winter. My experience has been limited entirely to 

 Clinton, Essex, and part of Franklin Counties, and it is possible the hibernating 

 habit may differ as we get farther into the woods, where the bears have not been 

 compelled to contend with man for so long a time, or as severely as has been the 

 case in the territory covered by my observation. 



Under the now accepted theory of " the survival of the fittest " we must expect 

 changes tending to the preservation of the animal ; and while these changes are gen- 

 erally slow, they are sometimes quite rapid. Since I can remember, the partridge 

 around Ausable Forks has largely changed his habit of alighting in a nearby tree 

 when flushed ; and it is certain that the chimney swallow did not build its nest in 

 chimneys until the Europeans erected houses with these suitable nesting places. I 

 know several instances where birds have changed their habits, and it would not be 

 strange if so intelligent an animal as the bear found it safer to den than to be out 

 during times of deep snows. Really, a change of habit requires no particular intelli- 

 gence on the part of the animal. We have only to assume with Darwin " that there 



