Blackbear 1065 



early, they generally den near the commencement of winter. 

 If, on the contrary, there has been a good yield of mast and the 

 winter is a mild one (and it is a fact that, with us, good beech- 

 nut years are commonly followed by open winters), the males 

 prowl about nearly, or quite, all winter, and the females only 

 den a short time before the period of bringing forth their 

 young. Indeed, it can be set down as a rule that so long as a 

 male Bear can find enough to eat he will not den, he the weather 

 never so severe; '" for it is evident that he does not den to es- 

 cape either the low temperature or the deep snows, but to thus 

 bridge over a period when, if active, he would be unable to 

 procure sufficient food. And the female, under similar cir- 

 cumstances, remains out till the maternal impulse prompts her 

 to seek a shelter for her prospective offspring; and in this 

 wilderness they have been found travelling as late as the middle 

 of January." 



Quite in accordance with this is the fact that menagerie 

 Bears, sure of their food, almost never go into a true winter 

 sleep. 



A tame but free Blackbear, kept on the Red River by 

 Alexander Henry in 1804, began to prepare its winter den as 

 early as November 13.'" 



I have seen one or two Bear dens and have heard many 

 described by the hunters. They vary from a deep, snug, 

 sheltered natural cave in the rocks, to a hollow tree or a hole 

 under an upturned root. Sometimes the Bear digs a den in 

 the level ground, as I once saw in Manitoba, and sometimes it 

 makes a bed under a windfall of logs and brush, or in a dense 

 thicket. But wherever chosen, it is sure to be a dry place 

 where the snow will gather and lie deep all winter. 



Great variety in the amount of lining is observable. Ac- 

 cording to Merriam :-' " The amount of labour bestowed upon 

 it depends upon the length of time the Bear expects to hiber- 

 nate. If the prospects point towards a severe winter, and there 

 is a scarcity of food, they den early and take pains to make a 



" Italics, mine.— E. T. S. '" Journal, 1897, p. 253. 



" Mam. Adir., 1884, pp. 97-8. 



