FUR FACTS 159 



shoots. But their appetites are not long in returning. By the end 

 of a week the old saying, "hungry as a bear", is more than justified 

 and they begin in earnest to make up for lost time. At this season 

 they are especially fond of the parsnip-like roots of the skunk cab- 

 bage. The grizzlies work for their food like industrious men. The 

 black bear will work hard at any kind of mischief, but seems to hate to 

 work steadily for business purposes. The grizzly will dig for hours and 

 heap out cart-loads of earth and rock to get at a nest of marmots 

 or ground-squirrels. The black bear may show an interest in a 

 marmot burrow and do a little half-hearted scratching near the en- 

 trance, but never digs deep or long for them. They kill nothing larger, 

 in the way of small game, than field mice, gophers, etc., and are very 

 fond of young pigs. They will turn over stumps and roll logs aside 

 to catch an escaping mouse and will capture it before it goes a yard. 

 Frogs and toads are a favorite delicacy of theirs and they spend 

 much time in looking for them. They will walk along the edge of 

 small streams and pin down a jumping frog with their lightning- 

 quick paws. 



Practically nothing in the insect line is over-looked by them. 

 They are everlastingly poking and pulling at rotten logs, old stumps, 

 loose stones, and decayed trees, looking for caterpillars, squash 

 bugs, grubs, centipedes, and larvae. Their sense of smell is wonder- 

 fully acute and one can hear them sniffing and snuffing over the 

 punky mass of an old tree trunk they have ripped open, searching 

 with their noses for crawling goodies. 



Like all bears they are extravagantly fond of ants, and they are 

 not only experts in finding them, but know how to take advantage 

 of the habits of the various kinds in order to catch them. Their 

 greatest feasts in this line are obtained when they discover the huge 

 low hills of what, in the west, are called vinegar ants. These are 

 only moderate in size but are extremely vicious. They get their name 

 from a strong odor, resembling that of vinegar, that they exhale 

 when aroused. They build large hills, sometimes several feet in 

 diameter, made up for the most part of pine needles, bits of wood, 

 pellets of earth, and such like stuff. They are red and black in color, 

 have powerful jaws, and rush by the thousands to give battle to any 

 intruder that disturbs their home. It is this latter trait that makes 

 them an easy prey to the black bear. When he discovers an ant 

 hill belonging to this species he runs up to it, puts one of his fore- 

 legs deep down into the inside of it, gives a turn to his paw that 



