CHAPTER III 



BEARS 



Bear, Badger, Ottek, Stoat, Weasel, Polecat, and 

 Ferret. 



Dogs and cats walk on their toes, but bears and 

 their kindred walk on the palms of their hands and 

 the soles of their feet, which are smooth and not 

 hairy, except in the case of the polar bear, who 

 needs the hairs to keep him from slipping when 

 walking on ice. They have five toes, and are unable 

 to withdraw their claws as the cats can. Unlike 

 the cats they are never spotted. Bears are now 

 seldom seen in the streets as they used to be thirty 

 years ago, being led on a chain to gain their own 

 and their tamer^s livelihood by their tricks. You 

 must go and look at Bruin in the Zoological Gardens. 

 He may have come from the Alps, Norway, Russia, 

 the Pyrenees, or India, or, if he be a grizzly, from 

 North America. You will see him eat buns, sweets, 

 nuts, and fruit. In fact he is not strictly carnivorous. 

 You will compare his heavy, awkward, almost tail- 

 less body with the grace of such big cats as the lion 

 and tiger. Nevertheless Bruin is a handsome fellow, 

 and in his own way can do many things as well as 



