The Story of Ben 39 



the httle cave in the Bitter Roots; and it was several 

 days before I understood what he was about. Then 

 it came to me that he was building himself a winter 

 home. I have learned since that bears in captivity 

 by no means always show a desire to hibernate; but 

 Ben had the instinct thoroughly developed. And 

 instinct it was, pure and simple, for he had never seen 

 a bear's den except the one that he left as a tiny cub on 

 the day that his mother was killed. He evidently 

 regarded the work as a most serious and important 

 undertaking, and I watched his labors with much in- 

 terest. He devoted several hours each day to shaping 

 his cave and at times would break suddenly away in 

 the very middle of a romp and hurry to his digging. If 

 I caught him by his short tail and dragged him out of 

 the hole, he would rush back to his work as soon as re- 

 leased. I even enlarged the entrance so that I could 

 crawl in and watch him work, and on one or two oc- 

 casions I undertook to help him. But, while he would 

 not resent this, my work did not seem to please him, as 

 he moved the dirt which I had dug and resettled it to 

 suit himself. He piled loose earth up under the floor 

 of the carriage-house and pushed and jammed it tight 

 up against the boards until there was not a crack or 

 space left through which a draught could reach him. 

 The hole itself he made about four feet in diameter 

 and about three feet deep; and when this part of the 

 work was finished he turned his attention to furnishing 



