BEAR 



637 



BEAR 



approaching enemy of any darker color. This 

 is an exceptionally large bear, which often at- 

 tains a length of nine feet or more and a 

 .lit of 1,000 pounds, and it has a long, 

 pointed head, slender limbs, and large black 

 feet. It lives chiefly on seals and fish, which 

 r it has little difficulty in catching, as it 

 is an excellent swimmer. Polar bears are 

 much seen in zoos, and seem to thrive in the 

 temperate climates. 



The grizzly bear of the mountains of West- 

 ern North America is one of the largest and 

 most savage of the family; indeed, hunters 

 consider it the most dangerous animal of 

 North America. Formerly it was to be found 

 anywhere from the Black Hills of Dakota 

 westward, and from Mexico to Northern 

 Alaska, but the advance of civilization has 

 forced it to withdraw to the high mountains 

 and deep forests. Once it was the enemy of 

 the buffalo and the deer, and to-day the cattle 

 and horses of western ranches are not always 

 safe from its raids. Unlike most bears, it does 

 not sleep during the winter, but ranges day 

 and night for its prey. The grizzlies vary in 

 color, some being brownish-yellow, some gray 

 and some reddish-brown. The two latter 

 classes receive special names the gray are 

 known as silver tips, the reddish-brown as cin- 

 namon bears. A full-grown grizzly may be 

 nine feet or more in length and may weigh 

 1,000 pounds. Yellowstone National Park has 

 some fine specimens which frequently come 

 close enough to the hotels to be photographed 



Tin- brown bear of Europe and Asia is the 

 lnMren's stories, for Bruin merely 

 MS brown, and this is the bear which is 

 most often seen in menageries or with stroll- 

 musicians, \\lio t<ach it to dance clum-ily 

 and to perform tricks. Tin- chiMren of North 

 America are not so familiar \\itli these per- 

 forming heai - ry village of Kurope 



ives frequent visits from the bear-tan 

 and their pets. It was this anim-il \\hich in 

 (.nlier days in : was so cnn ll\ 



fastened to a stake and compelled to f'mht a 

 p.irk of dogs and doubtless tin- three bears" 

 whom Goldilocks nut in the wood were of 

 thi> species. 



i takes its na 

 shorten*. i f<>n ord for l>. 



: rion i|i;it many bears wen- killed 

 on tin- day tin- nfy w.m founded; and to this 

 day bears are kept by the < ,t m 



a den or pit in memory of this old story. 



The black bear is to be found in aknost any 

 part of North America where large stretches 

 of forest remain. It is smaller than the grizzly, 

 and is not always black, many species being 

 brown or reddish-yellow. Not dangerous un- 

 less enraged, the black bear is nevertheless 

 hated and feared, for it is a persistent thief 

 of pigs and sheep. 



The Kadiak bear, the largest bear of all, 

 lives on Kadiak Island, Alaska, and is related 

 to the grizzly. While other species of bears 

 are being gradually exterminated, this one is 

 still numerous, and bids fair to remain so 

 since it is one of the most dangerous of all 

 beasts of prey. V.L.K. 



Consult Seton's Life Histories of North 

 Amrrican Animals; Roosevelt's The Wilderness 

 Hunter. 



BEAR, GREAT, the name of the most con- 

 spicuous constellation in the northern heavens, 

 called Arcturus by the Greeks, and usually 

 named Ursa Major by astronomers. The Great 

 Bear contains seven stars of the second mag- 



C.RKAT ISKAIi 

 (See, alHo. full pace drawings In ASTRONOMY.) 



nitude, so arranged as t<> i'rm the outline of 

 a dipper-like figure with a handle of three 

 stars. The two stars forming the end of tin 

 dipper an c.illnl /m,n.'.rx, as a line drawn 

 llimugli them and continued toward- the Pole 

 will almost touch the Pole Star. In the United 

 States and Canada this group of stars is known 

 as the Hi . to distinguish it from th 



Lester Bear, or I. ml.- Dipper, \\luch contains 

 Bttf, In I'.nirland >!> Dipper is called 

 the Waeon. the Wain an<l the Plow. 



