Z^t Bong HiJmtet ^Uip 



than a month after all the other bears had disap- 

 peared. Both were thin — just why I should like to 

 know. They also turned in shortly after they be- 

 came rounded out. Generally bears of a locality 

 turn in for winter at about the same time. Hiber- 

 nating may begin early in November, but in most 

 localities, and in most years, the time is likely to 

 be a month later. 



In Alaska and the Northwest many bears hiber- 

 nate in the heights above the timber-line. I have 

 found a number in the mountains of Colorado with 

 winter quarters at an altitude of twelve thousand 

 feet. In southern Colorado and in the Yellowstone 

 Park region many have denned up at about the 

 altitude of six thousand feet. But a grizzly may 

 hibernate anywhere in his territory where he can 

 find or make a den to his liking. 



Except when there are cubs, a grizzly dens alone. 

 Accounts which tell of a number of full-grown 

 grizzlies spending the winter in one den lack verifi- 

 cation. The cubs are bom in the hibemating-den, 

 and they den up with the mother the first, and 

 sometimes the second, winter after their birth. 

 The cubs generally den up together the first winter 

 after they are weaned. 



87 



