THE BLACK BEAR 35 



CHAPTER II. 



THE BLACK BEAR. 



TVTEXT to the whitetail deer the black bear 

 L^l is the commonest and most widely dis- 

 tributed of American big game. It is still 

 found quite plentifully in northern New Eng- 

 land, in the Adirondacks, Catskills, and along 

 the entire length of the Alleghanies, as well 

 as in the swamps and canebrakes of the south- 

 ern States. It is also common in the great 

 forests of northern Michigan, Wisconsin, and 

 Minnesota, and throughout the Rocky Mount- 

 ains and the timbered ranges of the Pacific 

 coast. In the East it has always ranked 

 second only to the deer among the beasts of 

 chase. The bear and the buck were the staple 

 objects of pursuit of all the old hunters. 

 They were more plentiful than the bison and 

 elk even in the long vanished days when these 

 two great monarchs of the forest still ranged 

 eastward to Virginia and Pennsylvania. The 

 wolf and the cougar were always too scarce 

 and too shy to yield much profit to the hunt- 

 er. The black bear is a timid, cowardly 

 animal, and usually a vegetarian, though it 

 sometimes preys on the sheep, hogs, and even 

 cattle of the settler, and is very fond of raid- 



