BEAR TALK. 75 



come upon their beds while they were still warm, but 

 the bears were gone without my even getting a 

 glimpse of them. No matter how sly I am, they are 

 pretty sure to hear me and go scurrying through the 

 woods as fast as their legs will carry them. Their 

 senses of hearing, smelling, and seeing seem to be 

 marvellously developed." 



" What do they feed on?" 



" That depends to a considerable extent upon the 

 country in which they live. Like the hog, they take 

 anything they can get. They will take meat, rob birds' 

 nests and suck the eggs, catch frogs, eat fish ; they are 

 very fond of vegetables, berries, and tender roots, and 

 they will eat ants and other insects and even worms. 

 They are very fond of acorns and go a long way after 

 them. In Washington and British Columbia they 

 desert the mountains when the salmon are running 

 and live along the streams." 



The hunt was now over and the skins and meat 

 were packed to Harvey's ranch, where the naturalists 

 said farewell to their friends and returned to civili- 

 sation. 



