318 



THE BLACK BEAR. 



very handsome aspect to the eye, while its texture is as thick and warm as that of its rougher 

 furred relations. 



This creature is but little given to animal food, and will restrict itself to a vegetable diet 

 unless pressed by hunger. It is, however, very fond of the little snails which come up to feed 

 on the sweet prairie-grass as soon as it is sufficiently moistened by showers or dew to suit the 

 locomotive capabilities of those wet-loving mollusks, and is extremely fond of honey, in search 

 of which dainty it displays great acuteness and perseverance. 



Few trees afford so unstable a footing, that the Black Bear will not surmount them in 

 order to reach a nest of wild bees, and there are few obstacles which his ready claws and teeth 



MU8QTTAW, OH AMERICAN BLACK BEAR. Ursw amtricanua. 



will not remove in order to enable him to reach the subjacent dainty. Even if the honey and 

 comb be deeply concealed in the hollow of a tree, and the entrance by which the bees find 

 ingress and egress to and from their habitation be too small for the insertion of a paw, the 

 Bear will set steadily to work with his teeth, and deliberately gnaw his way through the solid 

 wood until he has made a breach sufficiently wide to answer his purpose. When once he has 

 succeeded in bringing the combs to light, he scrapes them together with his fore-paws, and 

 devours comb, honey, and young, without troubling himself about the stings of the surviving 

 bees. 



The hunters, who are equally fond of honey, find that if it is eaten in too great plenty it 

 produces very unpleasant symptoms, which may be counteracted by mixing it with the oil 

 which they extract from the fat of the Bear. This custom of eating mingled oil and honey 

 affords a partial explanation of the prophecy, "Butter and honey shall he eat," which was 

 necessarily put forth in language which was in accordance with the popular ideas of the 

 period. 



The flesh of the Bear is held in high esteem among the colonists and native hunters, and 

 when properly prepared is considered a great delicacy by the denizens of civilized localities. 

 The hams, when cured after the approved recipe, are greatly esteemed by epicures. The Brown 

 Bear of Europe is also famed for the excellent quality of the meat which it furnishes. 



The Black Bear is the most familiar species in America, being pretty well known in all 

 portions. In the season, many of our city markets are provided with Bears' meat. It was 



