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A GENTLEMANLY BEAR. 



very great, being sometimes from seven to eight hundred pounds when the creature is 

 remarkably fine, and from five to six hundred pounds in ordinary cases. Mr. Falk 

 remarks, that a Bear which he killed was so enormously heavy, that when slung on a 

 pole it was a weighty burden for ten bearers. 



The Brown Bear is not so formidable a foe to cattle and flocks as might be supposed 

 from the strength, courage, and voracity of the animal, as it has been often known to 

 live for years in the near vicinity of farms without making any inroads upon the live 

 stock. Fortunately for the farmers and cattle owners of Northern Europe, the Brown 

 Bear is chiefly indebted for its food to roots and vegetable substances, or the sheds 

 and folds would soon be depopulated. As a general fact, the Bear does not trouble 

 itself to pursue the cattle, and in many cases owes its taste for blood to the absurd con- 

 duct of the cattle, which are apt to bellow arid charge at the Bear as soon as it makes 

 its appearance. The Bear is then provoked to retaliation, and in so doing, learns a taste 

 for blood which never afterwards deserts it. When a Bear has once taken up the bus- 

 iness of cattle-stealing, there is no peace in the neighborhood until the country is freed 

 from the presence of the marauder. It is said that the Bear is more virulent in the 

 destruction of cattle when the weather is wet and cloudy than when it is dry and 

 clear. 



Ants form a favorite article of diet with the Bear, which scrapes their nests out of 

 the earth with its powerful talons, and laps up the ants and their so-called " eggs " with 

 its ready tongue. Bees and their sweet produce are greatly to the taste of the Bear, 

 which is said to make occasional raids upon the bee-hives, and to plunder their contents. 



Vegetables of various kinds are favorite articles of diet with the Bear, and in the 

 selection of these dainties the animal evinces considerable taste. According to Mr. 

 Lloyd, " the Bear feeds on roots, and the leaves and small limbs of the aspen, mount- 

 ain-ash, and other trees : he is also fond of succulent plants, such as angelica, mount- 

 ain-thistle, etc. To berries he is likewise very partial, and during the autumnal 

 months, when they are ripe, he devours vast quantities of cranberries, blueberries, rasp- 

 berries, strawberries, cloudberries, and other berries common to the Scandinavian 

 forests. Ripe corn he also eats, and sometimes commits no small havoc amongst it ; 

 for seating himself, as it is said, on his haunches in a field of it, he collects with his 

 outstretched arms nearly a sheaf at a time, the ears of which he then devours." 



Even in captivity the Bear retains this fruit-loving propensity. One of these animals, 

 which was being maltreated by a cruel owner, was benevolently purchased by one of 

 my friends, an officer in the Guards, who had no sooner concluded the bargain than he 

 repented of his kindness, for the Bear was so demonstrative in its expressions of 

 gratitude that he began to be rather uneasy, and having no possible locality wherein 

 to lodge his new acquisition, he felt himself in some perplexity as to its lodging. How- 

 ever, he got the Bear into a post-chaise, and having taken the precaution to purchase 

 a great many pottles of strawberries, he urged the post-boy to drive at his best speed, 

 and set himself to propitiate his new acquaintance. The Bear took the strawberries in 

 a very polished manner, and ate them deliberately, rejecting the green calices as fas- 

 tidiously as if it had been accustomed to good society all its life. However, the fruit 

 vanished so fast, that the unfortunate proprietor became alarmed for his own safety, and 

 was not fairly relieved from his fears until he was deposited at the door of the barracks 

 in which the headquarters of his regiment were at that time established. The Bear, on 

 seeing so many red-coated strangers, became alarmed in its turn, and fled for protection 

 to the only person with whom it was acquainted. 



It so happened that the mess-dinner was just served, and that the proprietor of the 

 Bear had but time to make a hasty toilet, and gain the mess-room. On this occasion 

 the commanding officer was delayed for a few minutes, and while the assembled guests 

 were awaiting his arrival, the Bear walked into the room, having sniffed its way after its 

 master. The unexpected intruder advanced to the table, and, mounting upon the colonel's 

 chair, began to inspect the festive arrangements. Just as the Bear had lifted a dish-cover 

 off the joint at the head of the table a feat which it performed as dexterously as if it had 

 been accustomed to wait at table all its life the colonel entered the room, and when 

 he saw the strange intruder who had taken such unceremonious possession of his seat 



