54 The Black Bear. 



pass on, when he detected the whining of bear-cubs. By making a 

 detour, he reached a place on a level with the bottom of the bowlder, 

 and there saw the tracks of an old bear, leading directly into the 

 center of the space between the tree-root and the bowlder. The old 

 bear, in her comings and goings, had tunneled a passage under the 

 snow-drift. Getting down on his hands and knees, the Indian, with 

 his knife held between his teeth, crept, bear fashion, into the tunnel. 

 After entering several feet, he found the usual bear device — a path 

 branching off in two directions. While pondering what to do under 

 such circumstances, a warning cry came from his little son, who was 

 perched on the top of the bowlder, and the next instant the old bear 

 rushed into the tunnel and came into violent contact with the Indian, 

 the shock causing the tunnel to cave in. The Indian, after dealing 

 the bear one blow, lost his knife in the snow, and seized the bear 

 with his hands ; but she proved too strong for him, and was the first 

 to struggle out of the drift, when, unfortunately, she met the little 

 Indian boy, who had climbed down to his father's rescue. He 

 received a tremendous blow on the thigh from the bear's paw as she 

 passed, which crippled him for life. Four days afterward the Indian, 

 determined to avenge the injury of his son by slaying the old bear, 

 returned to the den and discovered her lying dead upon the snow in 

 front of the bowlder : his one blow had gone home, and the poor 

 creature had crawled back to her young to die. The Indian dug 

 away the snow and found three cubs that were dead or dying. 



The principal strongholds of the black bear at the present day 

 are the great forests of Maine and New Brunswick. My own obser- 

 vation and the reports of farmers lead me to think that Bruin is 

 growing more carnivorous and discontented with a diet of herbs. 

 Assuredly, he is growing bolder. • He is also developing a propen- 

 sity to destroy more than he can eat, and it is not improbable that 

 his posterity may cease to be frugi-carnivorous. It is fortunate that 

 an animal of the strength and ferocity which he displays when 

 aroused seldom attacks man. The formation of his powerful jaws 

 and terrible canine teeth are well adapted to seize and hold his prey, 

 and his molars are strong enough to crush the bones of an ox. His 

 great strength, however, lies in his fore-arms and paws. His mode 

 of attacking his prey is not to seize it with his teeth, but to strike 

 terrific blows with his fore-paw. 



