THE BLACK BEAR. 



51 



the scales at over live hundred pounds. Last year I carried scales 

 with me and weighed several bears which I killed, but, unfortu- 

 nately, none of them were very large. A comparatively small 

 female weighed 350 pounds, and a male 411 pounds. This last 

 bear was fat, but not as large as some I have killed. The largest 

 bear I ever saw in Florida stood up in the scrub within twenty yards 

 of me, and I had a fair shot at him, but for the first and only time 

 in my life a Winchester rifle cartridge failed to explode. Before 

 I had time to push the lever and throw in another cartridge he 

 dropped out of sight in the high palmetto, and, although the dogs 

 chased him for several miles, he swam the river and I never saw 

 him again. 



A Black Bear will not attack a man unless badly wounded or with 

 cubs, although, as the exception proves the rule, one large fellow 

 charged one of my men, who rode ahead of him in open ground and 

 tried to turn him by tickling him with small shot. 



Bears hibernate in Florida as they do elsewhere in North America, 

 usually remaining hidden from about the last of December until 

 March. In the spring they hunt for crabs along the shore and eat 

 the young "palmetto cabbage" and the seeds of the mangrove, 

 called " mangrove buds." In June they hunt the beaches for turtles' 

 eggs, of which they are very fond. In the fall they subsist princi- 

 pally on the palmetto berries, which grow in great abundance in the 

 sandy lands bordering the ocean beach, and if not disturbed they 

 remain in such places until it is time for them to house up for the 

 winter. They then become very fat and are easily brought to bay 

 by the dogs, generally running but a short distance. The flesh of a 

 comparatively young bear is very palatable when properly cooked, 

 and the fat makes a very satisfactory substitute for lard and is much 

 esteemed by the Indians as well as by many of the white settlers. 



Good sport may be had hunting bears in Florida, but to hunt them 

 successfully one must have a really good lot of hounds. One or 

 two at least must be thoroughly trained "bear dogs." Bear dogs 

 are not easy to find ; still, one may be had now and then by paying 

 a high price for him. There are plenty of dogs that will "take" 



