208 BIG GAME FIELDS 



is not, so, although I have often heard it so stated. 

 Not even a black bear with his enviable digestive 

 apparatus can or does indulge in a hearty meal 

 after so long a fast. The organs of a bear are 

 no different from those of a man in this respect, 

 and after their long disuse are only capable of 

 assimilating the daintiest morsels of food such 

 as grass shoots, tender roots and the like. In 

 fact, at first they show little or no desire to eat, 

 but after a few days they commence to partake 

 again of pretty much everything. I say this 

 because a bear is omnivorous, which means that he 

 eats quite generally everything both vegetable 

 and meat. They are not as carnivorous as gen- 

 erally supposed, usually being contented with 

 such small animals as ground squirrels and field 

 mice, but still, when the opportunity offers, they 

 have a great propensity for stealing down ever 

 so carefully to a near-by farm and carrying off a 

 fat little shoat. They, too, have a great weakness 

 for sheep, and it is hardly necessary for me to 

 mention honey and sweets, for here we see them 

 again like good-natured, mischievous boys. The 

 various insects form a long list of goodies for 

 them, and they spend much of their time over- 

 turning stones, prying open old stumps and logs, 

 poking their nose and sniffing at every tiny hole 



