434 LABRADOR 



die, the bear attacked, only to learn, however, that against 

 modern guns he had no chance. The poor beast's attack 

 was entirely due to his inability to avoid death. Apropos 

 of caves, the black bear is, of all our mammals, the one 

 which looks out most for his personal comfort. With us 

 they "cave up" and' sleep for about six months to avoid 

 the cold of winter. I once purchased a young cub taken 

 from its dead mother soon after its birth. When October 

 came, we placed a barrel in the bear's run to see if he would 

 know how to make a nest, not having had any opportunity 

 of a "school of the woods." He took to it, however, with 

 apparent zest, and no less efficiently for lack of education. 

 He lined the barrel with grass and moss, and padded it all 

 tight and solid with his paws, almost as a man would do. 



On one occasion a trapper on his fur path found a con- 

 venient hole into a cave under a cliff. He crept in, lighted 

 a small lantern which he carried, and, after having his 

 supper, lay down to sleep. In the night a noise, as of 

 some visitor, awakened him, and he turned up his lantern 

 to find a large bear, standing as high as the roof. He 

 promptly shot the bear and got outside, where, by waiting, 

 he got two others. 



Their fondness for sweets, and especially molasses, occa- 

 sionally gets them into trouble. One time a trapper hauled 

 over $200 worth of food to one of the huts on his fur path. 

 When he came back he found a big hole through the roof 

 and most of his food spoilt. He nailed up the hole twice 

 as strong and headed up the barrel of molasses. On his 

 next visit he found that bears had again got in, broken the 

 top of his barrel, and eaten all his molasses. 



These bears also eat fish along the land- wash, as well as 



