608 THE CARNIVORES 



We likewise learn that, as a rule, the black bear hibernates, although its torpor is not 

 deep, and the time of entering upon the winter repose depends upon the severity of 

 the season and the amount of food supply. And it appears that the males will re- 

 main active in any weather, so long as they can find abundance of food. The 

 female is, however, compelled to seek shelter sooner on account of her prospective 

 family. The winter den of a black bear is generally a partial excavation under the 

 upturned roots of a fallen tree, or beneath a pile of logs, with perhaps a few bushes 

 and leaves scraped together by way of a bed, while to the first snowstorm is left 

 the task of completing the roof and filling the remaining chinks. Not unfrequently 

 the den is a great hole or cave dug into the side of a knoll, and generally under 

 some standing tree, whose roots serve as side posts to the entrance. The amount of 

 labor bestowed upon it depends upon the length of time the bear expects to hiber- 

 nate. If the prospects point toward a severe winter, and there is a scarcity of 

 food, they "den" early, and take pains to make a comfortable nest; but when 

 they stay out late, and then "den " in a hurry, they do not take the trouble to fix 

 up their nests at all. At such times they simply crawl into any convenient shelter 

 without gathering so much as a branch of moss to soften their bed. Snow com- 

 pletes the covering, and as their breath condenses and freezes into it an icy Wall 

 begins to form, and increases in thickness and extent day by day till they are soon 

 unable to escape, even if they would, and are obliged to remain in this icy cell till 

 liberated by the sun in April or May. 



The young are born about January or February, and are usually two or three 

 in number, although four have been found in a litter. It is believed that the female 

 does not give birth to young oftener than every alternate year. 



The black bear was pursued by the early colonists of North America by ' ' still- 

 hunting ' ' ; and it appears that this requires much more care than is the case with 

 other bears, since the American black bear is very acute of hearing. A favorite 

 expedient was to watch a herd of pigs in the cultivated districts, upon which the 

 bears would make a raid, and could then be shot with ease. Mr. C. C. Ward w r rites 

 that ' ' sometimes the black bear is hunted with dogs trained for the purpose. The 

 dogs are not taught to seize the bear, but to nip his heels, yelp around him, and 

 retard his progress, until the hunters come up and dispatch him with their rifles. 

 Common yelping curs possessed of the requisite pluck are best adapted for the pur- 

 pose. Large dogs with sufficient courage to seize a bear would have but a small 

 chance with him, for he could disable them with one blow of his powerful paw. 

 Another way of hunting is to track Bruin to his winter den, and either smoke or 

 dig him out, when he may be dispatched by a blow on the head with the pole 

 of an axe as he struggles out. Various kinds of traps, set-guns, and dead-falls are 

 also employed against him. ' ' 



THE HIMALAYAN BLACK BEAR {Ursus torquatus) 



With the black bear of the Himalayas we come to a very different animal, 

 readily recognized by the white chevron or inverted cresent on the chest, from 

 which it takes its scientific title, and which stands out in marked contrast to the 



