Animals in the Wild 



THE BEAR'S ROUNDHOUSE PUNCH 



Black bears are not large as bears go, and their top weight is about three 

 hundred pounds. They are fond of berries and of course honey. Bears pack a 

 tremendous, often lethal, wallop in their forepaws; but the "bear hug" is now 

 generally dismissed by scientists as a fable. 



most competent fashion. At birth the twin cubs of a black bear 

 are blind, almost hairless and not much larger than rats. By the 

 time they leave the winter retreat where they were born, they 

 have become saucy, fun-loving creatures with fluffy hair and sharp 

 claws. They box and wrestle, play hide-and-seek, and try all sorts 

 of tricks on their mother. 



Sometimes she loses patience with them and boxes their ears. 

 For all that, she guards them jealously and the only time she is 

 ever really dangerous to human beings is when her cubs are with 

 her. 



You may see black bears in some of our national parks; their 

 desire for food from tourists has overcome their natural shyness. 

 One lesson they learn well in the wilderness is to be ever wary 

 of humans and other possible enemies. Mother bear teaches the 

 cubs to swim and to climb trees to escape danger. She shows them 

 how to tear apart rotted stumps and mop up swarming ants with 

 the tongue. She demonstrates how to catch mice, how to slap a 



