n8 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 



Photo by L. Midland, F.Z.S.] [North Finchlej 



YOUNG SYRIAN BEAR FROM THE CAUCASUS 



This is, properly speaking, a Syrian tear, but the species is found in the Caucasus and in the Taurus 



Range 



ties are left on the banks of 

 the northern rivers. Whether 

 the large brown bear of the 

 Rocky Mountains is always 

 a grizzly or often this less for- 

 midable race is doubtful. The 

 writer inclines to think that 

 it is only the counterpart of 

 the North European and the 

 North Asiatic brown bear. 

 The following is Sir Samuel 

 Baker's account of these 

 bears. He says : " When I 

 was in California, experienced 

 informants told me that no 



^ rue p-fizzlv bear Was to be 



found east of the Pacific slope. 

 There are numerous bears of three if not four kinds in the Rocky Mountains. These are 

 frequently termed grizzlies ; but it is a misnomer. The true grizzly is far superior in size, but of 

 similar habits, and its weight is from 1,200 Ibs. to 1,400 Ibs." After giving various reasons for 

 believing this to be a fair weight, Sir Samuel Baker adds that this weight is equivalent to that 

 of a large cart-horse. There are certainly three Rocky Mountain bears the Grizzly, the 

 Brown, and the small Black Bear. There is probably also another a cross between the 

 black and the brown. It is ridiculous to say that the brown bears which come to eat the 

 refuse on the dust-heaps of the hotels of the Yellowstone Park, and let ladies photograph them, 

 are savage grizzly bears. 



THE SYRIAN BEAR. 



This bear, which figures in the story of Elisha, is a variety of the brown bear. It is found 

 from the Caucasus to the mountains of Palestine, and is a smaller animal than the true brown 

 bear, weighing about 300 Ibs. The fur in summer is of a mixed rusty colour, with a whitish 

 collar on the chest. It steals the grapes on Mount Horeb, and feeds upon ripe fruits, apples, 

 chestnuts, corn, and the like. It is then ready to face the long winter sleep. 



THE AMERICAN BLACK BEAR. 



This is the smallest North American species, and perhaps the most harmless. It seldom 

 weighs more than 400 Ibs. Its coat is short and glossy, and its flesh, especially in autumn, is 

 esteemed for food. The early backwoodsmen found it a troublesome neighbour. The bears 

 liked Indian corn, and were not averse to a young pig. " Like the deer," says Audubon, " it 

 changes its haunts with the seasons, and for the same reason viz. the desire of obtaining food. 

 During the spring months it searches for food in the low alluvial lands that border the rivers, or 

 by the margins of the inland lakes. There it procures abundance of succulent roots, and of the 

 tender, juicy stems of plants, upon which it chiefly feeds at that season. During the summer 

 heat it enters the gloomy swamps, and passes much of its time in wallowing in the mud like a 

 hog, and contents itself with crayfish, roots, and nettles ; now and then, when hard pressed by 

 hunger, it seizes a young pig, or perhaps a sow or calf. As soon as the different kinds of berrie: 

 ripen, the bears betake themselves to the high grounds, followed by their cubs. In much-retired 

 parts of the country, where there are no hilly grounds, it pays visits to the maize-fields, which it 

 ravages for a while. After this the various kinds of nuts and grapes, acorns and other forest 



