WINTER WAYS OF ANIMALS 163 



fat when they go to bed in the autumn and 

 fat and strong when they come out in the 

 spring. 



A snowy winter gives a bear den a cold-ex- 

 cluding outer covering closes the entrance and 

 the airholes. Most bears and ground-hogs ap- 

 pear to remain in the den all winter. I have 

 known an occasional ground-hog to thrust out 

 his head for a few minutes now and then dur- 

 ing the winter, and bears may come forth and 

 wander about for a time, especially if not 

 quite comfortable. I have known a number of 

 bears to come out toward spring for brief air- 

 ings and sunnings. 



Mid-winter a bear wanted more bedding. In 

 fact, he did not have any, which was unusual. 

 But the winter was cold, no snow had fallen, and 

 the frigid wind was whistling through his poorly 

 built den house. The usual snow would have 

 closed the airholes and shut out the cold. He 

 was carrying cedar bark and mouthfuls of dried 

 grass into the den. 



This same winter I came upon another bear. 

 Cold or something else had driven him from his 

 den. When I saw him he was trying to reopen 

 an old den which was back in a bank under the 

 roots of a spruce. He may have tried to dig 

 a den elsewhere, but the ground was frozen al- 

 most as hard as stone. While he was working 



