THE GRIZZLY BEAR. 



401 



It is generally supposed that the Grizzly Bear is unable to ascend trees, but it is now 

 ascertained that the animal is quite an adept in tree-climbing, and makes use of the 

 scandent art for the purpose of supplying itself with a bountiful and leisurely repast. 

 As the Bear is very fond of acorns, and does not choose to gather them separately 

 from the branches on which they grow, it ascends the trees, and with its powerful 

 fore-limbs administers such severe blows and shakings to the boughs that the ripe 

 acorns shower down like hail to the earth, whither the ingenious animal speedily de- 

 scends in order to reap the benefit of its exertions. Yet it is frequently found that a 

 man who has been chased by a Grizzly Bear has succeeded in saving his life by as- 

 cending a tree which the Bear has made repeated but ineffectual efforts to climb. The 



-^- xSi 



GRIZZLY BEAR.-l/rsuserojr. 



two accounts may be reconciled by the supposition that while the Bear is young, and 

 comparatively agile in proportion to its weight, it is capable of ascending a per- 

 pendicular tree-trunk ; but that when it becomes large and unwieldy, its limbs are not 

 sufficiently powerful to raise so great a weight from the earth by so slight a hold as 

 that which is afforded by the claws as they affix themselves to the rough bark. 



The color of the Grizzly Bear is extremely variable, so much so, indeed, that some 

 zoologists have suggested the existence of two distinct species. Sometimes the color 

 of the fur is a dullish brown, plentifully flecked with grizzled hairs, and in other speci- 

 mens the entire fur is of a beautiful steely gray. In every case, however, these grizzled 

 hairs are very conspicuous, so that there appears to a be certain tendency to whiteness in 

 the surface of the fur. From this peculiarity, the specific title of " candescens," or whitish, 

 26 



