24 QUADRUPEDS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



known them to elude their pursuers for a whole week together, 

 and, when finally taken by means of fresh pursuers, it has been found 

 that the hard flesh on their feet was worn off to the bone. Such 

 instances show that the understanding of this animal is of a supe- 

 rior cast ; indeed, Bruin has won himself some celebrity for his 

 cunning, and by no means ranks low in the scale of intelligence. 



The Bear is hunted by a half breed of hounds, or by cur-dogs. 

 The object of the hunter is to compel him to take to a tree. 

 This he is disposed to do when the dog bites him severely behind, 

 or annoys him by a' continual bark. Sometimes a small coura- 

 geous dog is more successful in treeing him than a large one. Their 

 strength is great. I have known them, when in the trap, if it be- 

 came fixed, to tear off the entire foot at the ancle by one effort, 

 and escape on three legs. When attacked, they always rise upon 

 their hind legs, or sit upon their haunches, and defend themselves 

 by their fore feet, or, we might say, by their arms ; and their 

 mode and manner of doing this is effectual to preserve them from 

 the most furious attack of many dogs ; some of which get their 

 ribs broken, others get severely scratched, and others are 

 scalped. But their most effectual way of deahng with their pur- 

 suers is to squeeze them in their brawny arms against their bodies. 



The Bear is a stranger in most parts of this State, and proba- 

 bly far more common on the Hoosic Mountain range than in any 

 other part. It is not many years since great numbers appeared 

 there at once, and between twenty and thirty were taken in 

 the course of one autumn, on the mountains in Adams and Wil- 

 liamstown. They are still to be found, and several have been 

 taken every year since. 



The valuable parts of this animal are its oil and skin ; the oil 

 sells for about one dollar per pound. The skins vary in value 

 from four dollars to twelve. A Bear-skin robe which is made 

 out of the best parts of good skins, sells for from thirty to fifty 

 dollars. These robes wear much longer than those of the Buffalo, 

 being in texture much stronger, and more impervious to rain ; 

 and, besides, they are considered much handsomer and richer in 

 appearance. 



The Ursus Americanus inhabits every wooded district on the 

 American continent, and is found in the whole range between the 



