MAMMALS OF MINNESOTA. 149 



nutriment is derived from this amusement, either for mind or 

 body. The winter habitation is selected not only for its 

 warmth, but for its seclusion, for during this period the great- 

 est danger threatens the animal, and the hunter is constantly 

 on the lookout for one of these dens, which may be detected by 

 frost (caused by the breath) about the opening in the snows 

 which bury the cavity. An upturned tree in clayey soil fre- 

 quently forms a retreat just suited for the winter resort of the 

 bear, who excavates a recess in the sheltered cave formed by 

 the up torn roots. 



The sexes associate in the autumn, and one to four young are 

 born after a period of six or seven weeks say in January, 

 (more exactly. 120 days.) Four years are required to reach 

 maturity. Like almost all animals residing in the colder 

 parts of America, bears are migratory to a greater or less 

 extent. The migrations are probably hardly noticeable in our 

 limits. Many country people believe in the existence of an- 

 other species of bear known as ''The Ranger", which, like the 

 man-eating tiger, is blood-thirsty, and always gaunt and hun- 

 gry. This form should be distinguishable by a star or crescent 

 in the breast, and does not hibernate. 



The young of Bruin often fall a prey to the fox or fisher. 



As an illustration of the winter habits of bears the following 

 extract from an article in the "Century Magazine" of March, 

 1882, by Chas. C. Ward, is here reproduced. "Stimulated by 

 the large price offered by the officers of a garrison, an Indian 

 was indefatigable in his endeavors to find a den. One day ac- 

 companied by his little son, a boy of ten, he discovered unmis- 

 takable traces of a bear's den, near the top of a hill strewn 

 with granite bowlders, and almostim passable from the number 

 of fallen pines. One old pine had fallen up hill, and its up- 

 reared roots, with the soil clinging to them, formed, with a 

 very large rock, a triangular space into which snow had drifted 

 to a depth of ten or twelve feet. The Indian was about to pass 

 on when he detected the whining of bear cubs. By making a 

 detour, he reached a place on a level with the bottom of the 

 bowlder, and there saw tracks of an old bear, leading directly 

 into the centre of the space between the tree root and the 

 bowlder. The old bear, in her comings and goings, had tun- 

 neled a passage under the snow drift. Getting down on his 

 hands and knees, the Indian, with his knife held between his 

 teeth, crept bear- fashion into the tunnel. After entering sev- 

 eral feet he found the usual bear device a path branching off 



