202 BIG GAME FIELDS 



was asleep, but the telltale tracks were enough 

 to convince me in the morning. And so by hav- 

 ing lived with him in his own home, watched, 

 photographed, and studied his ways, over a period 

 of a good many years, I can set down for those 

 who may be interested, some of his characteristics, 

 habits and distribution. 



The range of the black bear extends from 

 Mexico to Alaska, and they have been met with 

 in nearly every state and territory within the 

 United States; also Labrador, Province of Que- 

 bec, Alberta and Assiniboia, British Columbia, 

 and the Mackenzie River Basin. All black bears 

 hibernate during the winter months. There are, 

 however, woodsmen in the South who disagree 

 with me on this point, saying they have seen their 

 tracks during every month of the winter, and the 

 mild climate does not force them to lie up in a 

 cave or den as it would in the more severe weather 

 of Northern latitudes. I have myself seen bear 

 tracks during the winter months, and even in 

 the deep snow of the Northern states. But this 

 is the exception, and I have no doubt that these 

 bears are simply shifting to another sleeping 

 place, having been driven out for one reason or 

 another. Their dens may not have been well 

 chosen, and they possibly became leaky, or ex- 



