THE SLOTH-BEAR 617 



As might have been predicted from the small size and half-rudimentary condi- 

 tion of its molar teeth, the food of the sloth-bear consists almost exclusively of fruits, 

 flowers, and insects, together with honey. Its favorite fruits appear to be those of 

 the ebony tree, the jujube-plum, several kinds of figs, and the long pods of the cas- 

 sia. Whether grapes, as shown in our illustration, form also part of the diet of these 

 bears, or whether this is merely a fancy on the part of the artist, we are unaware. 

 During the months of February and March, in many parts of India, the beautiful 

 fleshy-scarlet flowers of the mowha tree are nightly shed in great profusion, and form 

 a rich feast for many denizens of the jungle, prominent among which is the sloth- 

 bear, by whom these flowers are greatly relished. In addition to beetles and their 

 larvae, as well as young bees and honey, the sloth-bear is also passionately fond of 

 white ants or termites. On this point Colonel Tickell, as abridged by Dr. Jerdon, 

 observes that ' ' the power of suction in this bear, as well as of propelling wind from 

 its mouth, is very great. It is by this means it is enabled to procure its common 

 food of white ants and larvae with ease. On arriving at an ant-hill, the bear scrapes 

 away with the fore- feet. until he reaches the large combs at the bottom of the gal- 

 leries. He then with violent puffs- dissipates the dust and crumbled particles of the 

 nest, and sucks out the inhabitants of the comb by such forcible inhalations as to be 

 heard at two hundred yards' distance or more. Large larvae are in this way sucked 

 out from great depths under the soil. Where bears abound, their vicinity may be 

 readily known by numbers of these uprooted ants' nests and excavations, in which the 

 marks of their claws are plainly visible. They occasionally rob birds' nests and devour 

 the eggs. . . . The sucking of the paw, accompanied by a drumming noise when at rest, 

 and especially after meals, is common to all bears, and during the heat of the day they 

 may often be heard humming and puffing far down in caverns and fissures of rocks. ' ' 



Like the fox-bats and the palm-civets, the sloth-bear will often visit the vessels 

 hung on the palm trees for the sake of their juice, and is said to frequently become 

 very drunk in consequence. Sugar cane is likewise a favorite dainty of these bears, 

 which frequently do a large amount of damage to such crops. Although they gen- 

 erally subsist entirely on vegetable substances and insects, it seems that they will 

 occasionally eat flesh ; Sanderson mentioning an instance where one of them devoured 

 the carcass of a recently-killed muntjac deer, the proof that the bear was the devourer 

 beingafforded by the imprints of its feet in the wet soil. The same observer also mentions 

 that he has known bears to gnaw the dry bones of cattle that have died in the jungle. 



With the exception of the puffing and humming noises already mentioned, the 

 Indian sloth-bear is generally a silent animal. Mr. Blanford states, however, that 

 " occasionally they make the most startling noise, whether connected with pairing 

 or not I cannot say. I have only heard it in the beginning of the cold season, which 

 is not their usual pairing time. They occasionally fight under fruit trees, but I 

 think the noise then made is rather different." 



Like most other members of the family, the sloth-bear has the sense of hearing 

 but poorly developed, and its eyesight is also far from good ; and hence it has a pe- 

 culiarly comical way of peering about when it suspects intruders, as though it 

 were shortsighted. From these deficiencies of sense it can be approached very 

 closely from the leeward side. Its sense of smell, is, however, wonderfully acute, 



