234 THE MINDS AND MANNERS 



animal is free to act as joyous as it feels. Here we see things 

 that men never see in the wilds! If any Rocky Mountain bear 

 hunter should ever see bear cubs or full-grown bears wrestling 

 and carrying on as they do here, he would say that they were 

 plumb crazy! 



Of all our wild animals, not even excepting the apes and 

 monkeys, our young bears are the most persistently playful. 

 In fact, I believe that when properly caged and tended, bears 

 under eight years of age are the most joyous and playful of all 

 wild animals. We have given our bears smooth and spacious 

 yards floored with concrete, with a deep pool in the centre of 

 each, and great possibilities in climbing upon rocks high and low. 

 The top of each sleeping den is a spacious balcony with a 

 smooth floor. The facilities for bear wrestling and skylarking 

 are perfect, and there are no offensive uneven floors nor dead 

 stone walls to annoy or discourage any bear. They can look 

 at each other through the entire series of cages and there is no 

 chance whatever for a bear to feel lonesome. We put just as 

 many individuals into each cage as we think the traffic will 

 stand; and sometimes as many as six young bears are reared 

 together. 



Now, all these conditions promote good spirits, playfulness, 

 and the general enjoyment of life. Any one who thinks that 

 our bears are not far happier than those that are in the wilds and 

 exposed to enemies, hunger and cold, should pause and con- 

 sider. 



Our bear cubs begin to play just as soon as they emerge from 

 their natal den, in March or April, and they keep it up until 

 they are six or seven years of age, or longer ! Our visitors take 

 the playfulness of small cubs as a matter of course, but the 

 clumsy and ridiculous postures and antics of fat-paunched full- 

 grown bears are irresistibly funny. Really, there are times 

 when it seems as if the roars of laughter from the watching crowd 

 stimulates wrestling bears to further efforts. On October 28, 

 1921, about seventy boys stood in front of and alongside the 



