baker] BREEDIl^G OF BLACK BEARS ^77 



The eyes are closed and remain so for a month or more, and a Httle 

 short, velvety hair on their bodies is the only indication of the 

 heavy coat which they later acquire. (See plate lii.) 



As the mother is likely not to breed while giving attention to the 

 cubs, they usually are separated from her before the end of May, and 

 thereafter are raised by hand. For the first few weeks their food 

 consists entirely of milk; then they are gradually transferred to the 

 mixed diet of the older bears. The cubs are vicious in their greedi- 

 ness and cannot be trusted to take their milk together; when only 

 three and a half months old, one killed his brothers in a fight over 

 a pan of milk. 



The food given to the older bears is approximated as nearly as 

 circumstances permit to that which they would obtain in the wild 

 state. Scraps from the hotel and picnic tables furnish a consid- 

 erable part Q^* their fare during the summer, but throughout the 

 season they are liberally supplied with such suitable green food as 

 can be obtained. Dandelion tops, clover, and some other vegetables 

 come with early spring and are followed by green corn, berries, and 

 watermelons ; and in the fall acorns are gathered for the bears. 

 Green corn seems to be the favorite food and is consumed most 

 largely in the fall, when the bears become very fat. 



Accumulated fat and the approach of cold weather combine to 

 dull the bears' interest in the outside world, so that they turn their 

 attention to securing retreats for winter, for at the first severe 

 weather each animal begins to make ready its den by dragging into 

 it large quantities of dry leaves. They become more and more 

 sluggish and about the middle of December withdraw to the dens 

 for their long winter sleep. Usually they remain undisturbed until 

 the beginning of March, when the first warm days bring them out 

 to reconnoiter, and they soon afterward resume their interest in 

 the activities of bear life. 



The old bear is a model mother to the cubs as long as they remain 

 under her care, even refusing on their account the attentions of 

 her mate, but when they are taken away her affection for them 

 seems soon to end. The two cubs of 1898 were removed in May 

 and returned to the mother early in October, after first being kept 

 for two weeks with only a grating between. She had seemed to 

 recognize them, but when they were put together she at once caught 

 the little male by the head and killed him, and only forcible measures 

 prevented her from climbing the tree and repeating the operation on 

 the other cub, which had taken refuge there. The father cannot 

 be trusted at all with his offspring while they are very small. This 



