BEAR CUBS 



IN the course of my voyages I have frequently 

 encountered female bears accompanied by their 

 young. In general there is only one cub, but 

 occasionally there are two. 



The female is always alone with its young ; 

 I have never seen a male, a female, and the 

 cubs together. 



To capture alive cubs of eighteen months or 

 so, even after having killed the mother, demands 

 elaborate preparations, because, young as they 

 are, they are nevertheless strong and very 

 dangerous. Hunters for the most part capture 

 them by driving them into the sea, lassoing 

 them, hoisting them aboard by means of a 

 winch, and lowering them half strangled into 

 a cage. Personally, I have always refrained 

 from risking the lives of the men by taking, in 

 this way, well-grown cubs. I have, however, 

 captured small ones, sometimes on the ice, 

 sometimes in the sea. 



88 



