64 The Black Bear 



Black Bears; and around Flat Head Lake, in Mon- 

 tana, I have seen a number of albinos. Curiously 

 enough, albino deer used to be found in this same 

 locahty. One sometimes hears it declared that the 

 'Hrue" Black Bear has a white horseshoe on its breast. 

 This is simply a distortion of the fact that many Black 

 Bears, especially black ones, have a ''white vest,'' 

 varying from a few white hairs to a spot six inches 

 square. Now and then one sees a star, or a shield, 

 or some other oddly shaped mark, and sometimes 

 instead of being white these are cream color or a dirty 

 yellow. 



Like the grizzly, the individual Black Bear may vary 

 in color according to the season, the age of its coat, and 

 the weathering that this has undergone. An animal 

 that is a glossy black in the fall may, by the early sum- 

 mer of the following year, be a rusty black ; or one that 

 is a rich brown when it first emerges from its winter 

 sleep, may be a faded yellow brown when it has shed 

 its fur and only its hair remains in the beginning of the 

 next summer. But, as far as my observation goes, 

 these changes of color are wholly the result of sun 

 bleach, weathering, and wear and tear. 



All fur-bearing animals have both fur and hair — 

 the long guard-hair completely covering and protect- 

 ing the fine fur underneath. This is of course true of 

 the Black Bear, and it is interesting to note how both 

 hair and fur are changed each year, yet without ever 



