256 



NATUKAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS IN ALASKA. 



Ursus amekicanus Pallas. Black Bear (Esk. liinlduhl-Uh). 



Mr. Nelsou obtained a skull from Nulato wbicli differs in no way from skulls of tbe Black 

 Bear from the State of New York. It is adult but uot old, the frontoparietal and other sutures 

 being plainly marked and the cusps of the molars but little worn. Its dimensions are as follows : 



Measurements. 

 [Skull No. 21491 (250) ; Nulato.] 



Basi-cranial lenstli 



Zygomatic width 



Least distance between orbits in front 



Distance between post-orbitai processes 



Length of nasal 



Length of "palate " ■ 



Anterior margin of canine to posterior margin of last molar 



Greatest length of mandible 



Height of mandible from extremity of angle to center of coronoid margm 



List of spedmens. 



Biographical ?jofe.s,— Throughout the Territory, wherever trees aud large bushes occur, this ani- 

 mal is found, but it is far more numerous in the interior than near the coast. North of Bristol Bay 

 they very rarely reach the immediate vicinity of the sea, but occur on the peninsula of Aliaska and 

 the adjacent island of Uniniak. They are unknown on the remainder of the Aleutian chain and 

 the islands of Bering Sea, but occur on Kadiak Island and southward along the coast. The 

 headwaters of the Yukon aud Kuskoquim Rivers seem to be their center of abundance in Northern 

 Alaska, although hundreds of their skins are obtained each year at Nulato and Anvik. 



In November, or the last of October, when severe weather begins, these bears find some shel- 

 tered cleft or cavern in tbe rocks, where they prepare a bed of grasses aud other soft material and 

 retire to hibernate until warm weather in April and May thaws them out again. On the Upper 

 Yukon the Indians shoot, spear, or trap them, and some of the bravest and most powerful hunters 

 sometimes attack and kill them with a huntiug knife. This is not often tried, however, and before 

 the huuter makes the attack he wraps a blanket or his hunting shirt around his left forearm, aud, 

 with the knife iu his righi hand, meets the bear. As the latter rises upon his haunches the 

 protected arm is thrust out for the bear to seize with teeth and claws, and at the same time tbe 

 fatal thrust of the kuife is made under tbe guard thus formed. 



Iu winter or spring, when the Indians find a bear's den, the entrance is nearly closed with logs, 

 leaving a hole large enough for tbe bear to thrust out his head. The bear is then stirred up until 

 he awakes and rushes to tbe entrance of his den in a rage and receives a blow from au ax or a 

 bullet that kills him ou the spot. The young men sometimes make the logs fast about the entrance, 

 so that the bear cannot escape, and then take the maidens of their choice out and let them shoot 

 the bear when it thrusts its head out of the small hole left for that i)urpose. 



The Indian dogs are veiy useful in searching for these hiding places, aud sometimes flud them 

 uuder a considerable depth of snow. In spring these bears frequeut the banks of streams, where tbe 

 dead or disabled salmon cast ashore afford them an abundance of food. Later iu the season tbe 

 blueberries and other fruits growing ou the hillsides furnish them forage, upon which they fatten 

 and become excellent eating. The fur traders all tell of occasioually seeing black bears with a 

 white spot on the chest iu front ; this white area is sometimes quite large. 



Both Eskimo and Indians give bears credit for great knowledge aud cunning. A huuter of 

 tbe former people religiously refrains from speaking in a disrespectful manner of a bear, and is also 



