120 HUNTING IN THE ARCTIC 



so as to be able to spring on the seal and seize it when it 

 came near enough," 



It may be that the polar bear hibernates if food is 

 hard to obtain, for dens have been found, occasionally 

 with bears in them, but this does not appear to be a 

 regular habit, as they are frequently met at large during 

 the winter. They are, however, lean at this time of 

 year and a dead carcass sinks in the water, while the 

 reverse is true during the open months when food is 

 more easily caught and they become very fat. Females 

 pregnant, or with very young cubs, are rarely come upon, 

 for they lie up during this period. 



The time of year when cubs are born seems to be 

 more extended than is the case with some other mam- 

 mals. Thus the Duke of the Abruzzi writes on April 2d: 



''While walking near the level summit of the cape 

 (Fligely, Franz Josef Land), Hans sinks into a den 

 inhabited by a she-bear. The den is hollowed out of the 

 snow and communicates with the exterior only by a 

 small opening, through which Hans, taking up a good 

 position, fires, and kills the beast. We then come up, 

 and enlarging the opening of the den, drag out the bear, 

 and two httle cubs, hardly larger than cats." And the 

 same party, on April 9th, came upon "two little cubs, 

 bigger than those found at Cape FUgely." 



F. G. Jackson, exploring the same country five years 

 previously, found on February 3d a female bear and 

 newly born cub, hardly larger than a big cat, in a den 

 which he describes as follows: 



"The lair was situated on the steep, sloping edge of 

 the plateau at the front of the rocks, where it runs down 

 to the frozen sea below. It was deeply covered with a 

 hard compact snow-drift, the thickness of the snow 



