THE BEAR. 351 



ticularly shy and wary animals, remain to the last, though 

 the bear and otter are both much hunted for their fur. 

 In Prince Edward Island, the most thickly settled of all 

 the maritime provinces, the moose, the cariboo, and the 

 beaver are long since extinct, but the other animals still 

 abound. 



Bears are quite as numerous in parts of Canada as they 

 ever were. The sportsman does not often see them, it is 

 true, for Bruin is a sly and sneaking fellow, and does the 

 greater part of his prowling about by night. In summer 

 they live altogether on berries, which grow in profusion in 

 the barrens and burnt woods. In the fall bears are found in 

 the beech woods, eating the nuts that fall from the trees. 

 They choose their dens before the snow falls, and retire to 

 them about the beginning of December. At this time 

 they are very fat ; strange to say, they do not fall off in 

 condition during the winter months, and at the end of 

 March or beginning of April, when they leave their dens, 

 they are as fat as when they went in. After this they 

 rapidly lose flesh, and keep getting thinner till the berries 

 come in. In seasons when the berries are a failure, Bruin 

 is very hard pushed by hunger, and numbers of them 

 leave their haunts in the backwoods and prowl about the 

 outskirts of the settlements, committing great havoc 

 among the mutton and the oat fields, and occasionally 

 even walking off with young caittle. When vegetable food 

 can be got, they eat nothing else ; but when that fails, I 

 know nothing eatable that a bear will refuse. Most of the 

 animals in this country become omnivorous when pressed 

 by hunger ; thus I have known the rabbit (Lepus Ameri- 



