JO 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



edge of their habits, so as to be able to tell just where 

 to look for them. If in the spring, then look where the 

 first vegetation starts, close to the snow line. Although 

 bears never refuse to eat any kind of food at this time of 

 year, yet this is the first place they look for something 

 to eat. As the snow melts away from the hills and 

 ridges, they search these for decayed logs, stumps, and 

 turn over rocks, looking for grubs, ants, etc. As the 

 season advances, and vegetation gets more or less un- 

 palatable, they search streams for frogs, fish, etc. fish 

 being a choice food for them, especially in a country 

 where salmon abound. From the first of June to the 

 middle of July, they are not confined to any particular 

 spot, but are wandering anywhere in quest of any kind 

 of food. At this 



season, and the 



late fall,, they are 



likely to be found 



a ny w h e re, but 



most likely not at 



all, if one is not a 



very careful hunt- 

 er. A bear is al- 

 ways on the alert ; 



no sound escapes 



his notice, and he 



hears anything ; 



no matter how 



taken up he is 

 with feeding, he 

 will stand up and 

 listen and look 

 until he finds out 

 the cause and he 

 is never mistaken. 

 If the sound is 

 not repeated, he 

 at once becomes 

 suspi c i o u s and 

 proceeds to leave ; 

 and all your 

 climbing and 

 stalking has been 

 in vain as far as 



that bear is concerned. From the middle of July, when 

 the berries commence to ripen, these constitute their chief 

 diet no matter what kind of berries they are, although 

 they prefer black haw, for which they will leave all 

 others. These are found on nearly all the creeks in 

 Idaho, Montana, and the eastern parts, of Washington ; 

 but as they do not ripen until other kinds are nearly gone, 

 they feed on huckleberries, wild gooseberries, currants, 

 etc. The best time to shoot bears, when they are feed- 

 ing on berries, is early morning. They feed from sunrise 

 until ten o'clock, and then from three in the afternoon 

 until dark. In places where they are not much hunted, 

 I have found them feeding at all hours of the day. 

 They are extremely cautions, are the most wary of all 

 game, and gifted with a great amount of intelligence. A 



Photograph by Eltvin j?. Sanborn. 



AT HOME IN WATER AS WELL AS ON LAND 



Figure 12. Few are aware of the fact that the Polar Bear is as much at home in the waters 

 of the Arctic Seas as it is on the ice, and that it is quite the equal of any of the seals in the 

 matter of swimming. Seamen report seeing them as much as eight) miles from land or ice floes. 



hunter's success is in patience, perseverance, a good gun, 

 and the knowledge of how to use it." Another writer 

 says in part : "Of the bear family, we have in the 

 mountain region of Colorado four varieties : the black, 

 the brown, the gray or silvertip and the little range 

 bear. The first is coal black, every hair of him, except 

 in very rare instances. I have seen one with a white 

 strip in his face, and one with a distinct white collar 

 around his neck. He is about twice the height of the 

 little southern black fellow, and more than a third 

 heavier than the one found in the mountains of Pennsyl- 

 vania and northern New England. The cinnamon is 

 the common North American brown bear, and found- 

 nowhere else on earth. He is bigger and bolder than his 



black brother ; and 

 while he is not 

 aggressive, yet 

 when wounded or 

 cornered he is a 

 fearful antagonist, 

 quick as a flash, 

 and with the 

 strength and stay- 

 ing power of a 

 dozen Corbetts. 

 His greatest 

 weight, at mature 

 age and in best 

 condition, is from 

 eight to nine hun- 

 dred pounds, and 

 the average is 

 abount six hun- 

 dred and fifty. 

 The silvertip or 

 gray bear is the 

 largest and most 

 pugnacious varie- 

 ty found here, 

 and is the one 

 called "grizzly." 

 although the 

 monster, whose 

 name he has 

 usurped, would make a meal of the Colorado animal, 

 and go to bed hungry. There is a wonderful diversity 

 of color in this species, running from almost black to 

 almost white, that is puzzling to the novice ; but it is 

 partly accounted for by the difference in age and the 

 influence of the seasons, and also by the fact that this 

 animal r -bridizes with both the black and the brown 

 kind ; just as do the gray, black, and red foxes, whose 

 mixture produces the varied and beautiful fox skins. In 

 these mountains it is not an uncommon thing to see a 

 brown or black she bear with two cubs, one of each color, 

 or a silvertip with one dark brown and the other a dirty 

 white. The little brown fellow, called the range bear 

 or "ranger," is the least known of all the family, and is, 

 in fact, very rare. He seems to live, like the mountain 



