IV 

 THE BLACK BEAR OF MUSKOKA 



Ursus americanus 



HHE black bear of Muskoka is perhaps the 

 most harmless, timid, and inoffensive 

 creature to be found in the Canadian forest. 

 An animal possessed with great strength and 

 powers of endurance, roaming at large and ap- 

 propriating indiscriminately whatever food comes 

 to hand, is always associated from prejudice with 

 many acts of ferocity. 



Canada can boast of several forms of bear, but 

 there is no possibility of the dangerous kinds 

 being met with in Muskoka. The dreaded 

 grizzly (Ursus horribilis) confines himself to the 

 rocks and caverns of the west. The cinnamon 

 bear roams in the fur-countries, west and north 

 of the Missouri, extending to the barren grounds 

 of the north-west, and the white or polar bear 

 (Ursus maritimus) inhabits the north of Baffin's 

 and Hudson's Bays. 



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