116 THE FOREST AND THE FIELD. 



colour. Within a month their eyes open, and in three 

 months more they attain the size of a poodle dog, 

 and are very playful, always wrestling together. 

 Up to this time they are in considerable danger of 

 being devoured by the male, if the mother does not 

 guard them most carefully. They remain in the 

 den with their parents until more offspring are 

 born, when they are driven out to shift for them- 

 selves. Bears attain maturity at about five years of 

 age, and the duration of their lives is estimated at 

 over fifty years. In winter, snow bears retire to 

 caves and clefts in the rocks, where they construct 

 a kind of litter or bed of brushwood and moss, and, 

 without becoming torpid, sleep for days together. 

 At this time the Puharries say that they cast the 

 skin from the soles of their feet, but I cannot vouch 

 for the fact. In the spring, when the snow begins to 

 melt, they emerge from their dens, and feed upon 

 young and tender shoots, grass, berries, roots, insects, 

 and herbs. In summer time their favourite food is 

 fruit and honey, in autumn acorns and grain, and at 

 such times they go very long distances to forage. The 

 bear is rarely wantonly ferocious, except when 



