﻿NO. IO BREEDING OF AMERICAN BLACK BEAR A. B. BAKER 3 



tween 9 and 12 ounces. They are plump little fellows, with short 

 velvety hair of a grayish-brown color ; their eyes remain closed from 

 30 to 40 days, and they do not come out of the den until two months 

 old or more. 



Each family has its own quarters, though the mothers have shown 

 no inclination to injure each other's cubs when the cubs were play- 

 ing together on a gate of widely spaced bars which separated them. 

 The male was twice allowed to be with the family for a short time 

 in April and did not injure the cubs, though he carried one about, 

 taking nearly the whole cub into his mouth. During two seasons he 

 was with the mother and cubs from the first of June, but she then 

 failed to have young the next winter. When it is desired to have the 

 mother breed that season, the cubs are taken away in May and 

 raised by hand. Only milk is fed for the first few weeks, after 

 which they are gradually accustomed to the mixed diet of the older 

 bears. The births have been as follows : 



Original female, births 1892 to 1909 (no cubs 1910 to 1912) 13 

 litters, 34 cubs. 



2 litters of 1 cub, 



3 litters of 2 cubs, 

 6 litters of 3 cubs, 



2 litters of 4 cubs. 



Second female, births 1902 to 19 12, 10 litters, 22 cubs. 



1 litter of 1 cub, 



6 litters of- 2 cubs, 



3 litters of 3 cubs. 



Third female, births 1906 to 191 1, 5 litters, 12 cubs. 

 3 litters of 2 cubs, 



2 litters of 3 cubs. 



This gives 2 litters of 4 cubs, 11 of 3 cubs, 12 of 2 cubs, and 3 litters 

 of 1 cub ; but as one of these last was the first litter produced, and 

 the male was with the female at that time, he may have destroyed one 

 or more of the cubs. The two litters of four cubs were from the 

 oldest female, and each followed a year when she had failed to have 

 cubs. 



Record of the sexes was kept only for the first 9 litters of the 

 original female, which included 15 males and 6 females. 



No cubs have been lost except through accident, and the death of 

 a bear 20 months old was the only one from disease. 



The food which is supplied to the bears is a very good approxima- 

 tion to the diet which the animal gets in the wild state. Hotel and 



