THE BLACK BEAR COMEDIAN 107 



less in circumference. In this territory he is 

 likely to spend his years, but in springtime he 

 may descend to feed on the earliest wild gardens 

 of the foothills. I have tracked black bears 

 across mountain passes, and on one occasion I 

 found a bear track on the summit of Long's Peak. 



The black bear eats everything that is edible, 

 although his food is mainly that of a vegeta- 

 rian. He digs out rich willow and aspen roots 

 in the shallow and soft places, and tears up 

 numerous plants for their roots or tubers. He 

 eats grass and devours hundreds of juicy weeds. 

 In summer he goes miles to berry patches and 

 with the berries browses off a few inches of 

 thorny bush; he bites off the end of a plum-tree 

 limb and consumes it along with its leaves and 

 fruit. 



During summer I have seen him on the edge 

 of snowfields and glaciers consuming thousands 

 of unfortunate grasshoppers, flies, and other in- 

 sects there accumulated. He is particularly 

 fond of ants tears ant hills to pieces and licks 

 up the ants as they come storming forth to bite 

 him. He tears hundreds of rotten logs and 

 stumps to pieces for grubs, ants and their eggs. 

 He freely eats honey, the bees and their nests. 

 He often amuses himself and makes a most 

 amusing and man-like spectacle by chasing and 

 catching grasshoppers. 



