Black Bear 



and decaying timber. Later, when the ice has melted, they can 

 get succulent plants along the margin of lakes and ponds, and 

 catch suckers and other fish that run up the "rattling shallows." 

 Then they go looking for checkerberries on sunny banks in the 

 woods, or, if the opportunity offers, kill cows and sheep that have 

 been turned out to pasture. In summer they keep to gloomy 

 swamps and mountain-sides, where they feed on roots, nettles, 

 etc., to a certain extent. In hot weather they get lots of fun 

 wallowing in the mud like so many pigs. 



In August and later they visit the farmers' corn-fields and 

 munch the juicy ears and stalks ; pork is a favourite meat of 

 theirs, and they often show an astonishing degree of boldness, 

 for an animal usually so shy, in breaking into pig-pens in the 

 night. As autumn advances they gather nuts, acorns, wild grapes, 

 berries and mushrooms. it is at this season that they get the 

 most honey, and also dig up the nests of savage yellow-jackets, 

 in spite of all the stinging that inevitably follows. 



The cubs are sportive creatures, full of pranks, running, 

 leaping, wrestling, boxing, and playing hide-and-seek, and attempt- 

 ing all sorts of tricks and jokes to tease the old one. But 

 though they do everything they can think of to worry her, 

 she thinks everything of them, and guards them jealously; and 

 when she is with them is about the only time that she is ever 

 really dangerous. She leads them all over the woods, teaching 

 them everything she knows : how to catch mice and dig ants 

 out of a rotten log, or slap a bull-frog out of the water. 



Most bears retain a sense of the humorous, even after they 

 are full-grown and surly; in captivity they are less to be pitied 

 than most wild animals, for this keen sense of fun enables them 

 to get a great deal of amusement out of an old hat or an empty 

 barrel, especially if any one is watching and ready to take a hand 

 in the game. 



The black bear, moreover, is almost always interested in 

 observing the curious ways of the humans in front of his cage. 

 Even in the woods he often exhibits a desire to study the habits 

 of men, creeping up under cover from behind to watch them 

 as they endeavour to catch fish for food, or gather blueberries just 

 as he himself does. There are more people who have been 

 watched and studied in their summer outings by bears than are 

 aware of it, for the bear is ever careful to keep well hidden, and 



»S9 



