106 CONSERVATION OF CANADIAN WILD LIFE 
great strength and tenacity of life in spite of repeated shots 
into non-vital parts is very great. Only a direct hit in the 
brain or spinal column will make approach to a wounded 
animal really safe. 
In some localities the grizzly bear seems to prefer the 
open country to the woods, and his chosen habitat is the 
open and generally rocky mountain uplands of the divides, 
where sparse timber, dense growth of thickets, and occa- 
sional swamps furnish him with suitable environment. 
He frequents the open ground only through necessity— 
the search for food. It is only for a month or two in the 
summer that the male seeks the company of the female 
bear. As long as they can secure food in the fall and win- 
ter they do not go into hibernation. Grizzly bears are 
largely carnivorous, provided they can secure animal food, 
and they will eat anything from steers to mice. Nothing 
is too small to escape the long claws of these animals, by 
means of which they can pick the mountain berries, and 
unearth succulent roots, and insects as small as ants. Be- 
fore winter covers the mountains with snow they retire to 
their winter quarters in some convenient cavity or natural 
den in the rocks, or a den excavated in the mountainside, 
and there in midwinter the female brings forth her small 
cubs; usually two cubs are born, sometimes three, rarely 
four. The small size of the newly born cubs of bears is one 
of the striking features of these animals. The newly born 
young of the grizzly bear usually measures only about eight 
or nine inches in length, a remarkable size for the young of 
an animal of which the adult male may weigh from 500 to 
600 pounds. The cubs usually remain with the mother the 
first year, but lead a separate existence thereafter. 
The most distinctive characters of the grizzly bear are 
the high shoulder region, formed by a distinct hump, the 
great length of the front claws, which are twice the length 
of those of the hind feet, and the somewhat hollow facial 
