T^he Black Bear, — Ursus Amencamts, 103 



-silegree of strength iu turniug over large trunks of fallen trees, which when, 

 .sufficiently decayed to admit of it, he tears to pieces in search of worms. 



" During the season when the logger-head turtles land in vast multitudes 

 from the lagoons at the south, for the purpose of laying, the black bears 

 come iu droves to feast on their eggs, which they dig out of the sand very 

 expeditiously, and they are so attentive to their business, that the turtle has 

 s idom left the place for a quarter of an hour before the bear arrives to feast 

 upon fier eggs." * 



The bear is frequently taken in dead falls, constructed in the manner of 

 a martin trap. Two heavy logs are procured and placed one above the 

 other, with stakes driven into the ground upon each side to keep them in 

 that position. A small box-like enclosure, two or three feet square, is mad 5 

 upon one side, open towards the logs only, and in this the bait is placed. — • 

 The uppermost log is then raised up about two feet, and supported by a 

 .stick in such a manner that the bear in order to seize the bait must pass 

 with his head and shoulders between the logs. The bait is also so placed 

 and fastened to a piece of wood connected with that which supports the log 

 above the bear, that when it is seized the log falls upon the bear's back or 

 neck. Clumsy as this contrivance is, many bears are actually caught by it. 

 Many of our readers have never seen a martin trap, and we have thought it 

 proper therefore thus concisely to explain its principle as used for capturing 

 bears. 



Godman gives the following account of a bear in a dead fall : — " The 

 animal sat upon his fore-paws facing us, the hinder paws being pressed to 

 the ground by a heavy weight of logs, which had been arranged in such a 

 manner as to allow the bear to creep under, and by seizing the bait he had 

 sprung the trap and could not extricate himself, although with his foro 

 paws he had demolished a part of the worlds. After viewing him for some 

 time, a ball was fired through his head, but it did not kill him. The bear 

 kept his position, and seemed to growl defiance. A second ball was aimed 

 at his breast and took effect, but he did not resign the contest immediately, 

 and was at last despatched with an axe. As soon as the bear fell, one of 

 the Indians walked up, and addressing him by the name of Mudc-wah, 

 fihcok him by the paw with a smiling countenance, as if he had met with an 

 old acquaintance, saying, in the Indian language, he was sorry they had 

 been under the necessity of killing him, and hoped tlie offence would be 

 forgiven, especially as the cJie-mosk-o-men (white men) had fired one of the 

 balls. The Indians consider this bear as one of the noblest objects of the 

 cliase, and they always manifest the highest degree of exultation when they 

 are successful in killing one. Every part of the animal is valuable to them, 

 -iwen to its intestines and claws ; the latter are bored at the base and strung 

 on deer's sinews, to be worn as ornaments. The flesh is considered most 

 delicious food, and the fore paws an exquisite dainty. 



" The fat of the bear is accummulated in different parts of the body to an 

 ^excessive degree, towards autumn, after the animal has been plentifullj 



* Godman's Natural History^ vol. 1, page 87, 



