XVII 



THE BEAR FAMILY 



" I ^HE bear family, the Ursidcs of the naturalists, con- 



-*- tains about fifteen species — the naturalists do 

 not agree upon the number, and sportsmen here, con- 

 trary to the general rule, count rather more than the 

 naturalists, since the same bear is known by different 

 names in different localities. It is now well settled 

 that we have four bears in North America, or at least 

 one-fourth of all the bears of the world. 



Our bears include the most ferocious and formidable 

 bear in the world, the grizzly bear; the largest bear in 

 the world, the big brown bear; the polar or white 

 Arctic bear, and the common black bear, often called 

 brown bear. 



The bears, as their fur coats indicate, are northern 

 animals and are said to be Polar rather than Equatorial 

 in their distribution. Two of the bears named above 

 are only found in the far North; the range of the grizzly 

 and black bears extends as far south as Mexico. 



The bears are the only North American game-ani- 

 mals, excepting the cougar and wildcat, which are 

 ferocious. The deer, however, as we have seen, when 

 wounded are often ugly customers. The ferocity of 

 our bears has been exaggerated greatly. They arc 

 seldom the aggressors, but fight furiously when cor- 

 nered or in defence of their young. 



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