NOTES ON THE GRIZZLY BEAR 175 



would go up into the mountains to feed on huckleberries, 

 and be shot. 



September. — It is in this month that the bears take 

 on the greatest amount of fat, for winter use. By Sep- 

 tember 15 the pelage is quite long, faultless in texture, 

 and very richly colored. Of the five species of huckle- 

 berries and blueberries that grow in the mountains, two 

 are large and fine, and furnish an excellent supply of 

 bear food. This is the month of bear migration, from 

 the lower valleys upward, feeding on berries all the way. 

 The earlier the coming of the first heavy snowfall, the 

 earlier the migration. When the bears cannot get huc- 

 kleberries, they eat black currants, but not with great 

 relish, because they are rather bitter. The root of a 

 ''wild-pea vine" (Hedysarum) is eaten with great rel- 

 ish. It tastes precisely like green-pea pods, and is really 

 very palatable. When the root is chewed, its residuum 

 is tough and woody, but the outside is gelatinous, like 

 slippery-elm bark. 



October. — After the berries are gone, the grizzlies dig 

 for ''gophers" [Citellus columbianus), and for Hedys- 

 arum roots, until the ground freezes to such a depth that 

 they cannot break through it. When digging becomes 

 impossible, the bears seek their winter dens, and hibernate. 



At most seasons of the year the male grizzly bear is 

 a solitary creature. As a rule, the only individuals found 

 living together are the mother and cubs. Occasionally 

 it happens that the yearling cubs remain with their 

 mother for some months after the birth of their sue- 



