84 FLESH-EATERS 



Structure and Habits of Bears. — Bears are planti- 

 grade, or flat-footed, animals, with long claws that are not 

 retractile. They live on the ground, and eat all kinds of 

 food, from green grass to elk steaks. A few species only 

 are able to climb trees. In their food habits they are om- 

 nivorous, and devour almost everything they can chew, 

 except wood and foliage. The bears of the Alaskan coast 

 eat great quantities of marsh grass and berries, but salmon 

 is their regular food. All bears eat succulent roots, insect 

 larvae, honey, frogs, and also reptiles, fish, and every other 

 kind of flesh they can obtain. In captivity they thrive best 

 on a variety of food consisting of stale bread, raw meat, 

 cooked meat, rice, raw fish, boiled potatoes, raw carrots, 

 and fruit. 



In the temperate zone, where the snow falls to a depth 

 of a foot or more, bears are unable to procure food in winter, 

 and pass that season in a sort of sleep, or hibernation. With 

 its stomach and intestines empty, or nearly so, a bear enters 

 its den in December, curls up, and with some of the func- 

 tions of Nature entirely suspended, sleeps until spring! In 

 reality, the creature lives upon the fat that has been secreted 

 under its skin and elsewhere during the summer days of good 

 living. Ordinarily, bears in captivity that are supplied with 

 daily food do not hibernate in winter, but one cinnamon 

 bear which I knew personally, at Mandan, North Dakota, 

 dug a hole in the prairie, entered it on December 17, and did 

 not reappear until March 14, of the following year. In the 

 tropics, bears never hibernate. 



Naturally, the dens of hibernating bears are of several 



