96 



MAMMALIA. 



no fear ol the bees that aii^Tily swarm about him, his tliick hair and 

 touL;'h hide protectint^ him ironi their stings. When pKuulering' the 

 apple orchard he is said to touch only the sweetest iruit. 



He must relish prussic acid, for no article of his comprehensive 

 bill-of-fare is more certain to secure his consideration than a tree 

 laden witli ripe black-cherries. Here he will spend hours at a time, 

 glutting upon the handsome fruit, which he leisurely collects from the 

 branches, and is apt to return again and again so long as the supply 

 holds out. Fields of ripe blackberries also claim a large share of 

 attention, and his excessive fondness for them often overcomes his 

 natural prudence, and he is sometimes surprised, in broad daylight, 

 indulging his appetite in such situations. 



The senses of smell and hearing are so acute in these brutes that 

 under ordinary circumstances it is impossible to approach even within 

 rifle range of them. But in the fall of the year, during their expedi- 

 tions through the clearings, they som2times wander for miles through 

 quite thickly settled portions ot country, when, owing to the open 

 nature of the ground, they are frequently seen and occasionally shot. 



In Lewis County, about twenty miles west of the western border 

 of the Wilderness, is an uninhabited tract of evergreen forest, cover- 

 ing portions of the towns of High Market, Osceola, Montague, and 

 Pinckney. In this forest dwell many Bears, and in the fall they often 

 cross over the intervening valley, a fertile farming country, and enter 

 the Adirondacks. At such times they occasionally pass through our 

 own grounds, at Locust Grove, in the town of Leyden; and during 

 one October, about five years ago, no less than nine Bears were killed 

 within six miles from my residence. 



Though good climbers. Bears are unable, on account ot their great 

 weight, to ascend to the tree tops or climb far out on the branches. 

 They are excellent swimmers, crossing with ease not only rivers, but 

 even large and broad lakes. Many have been surprised and killed 

 while swimming the lakes that abound in the " North Woods "; and 

 only last year (in July, 1881) the steamer Ganoitskic. on Lake 



