256 



KATUKAL HlSTOllY GOLLECTIOXS IN ALASKA. 



Uestjs' amebicanus Pallas. Black Bear (Esk. Ttm-lguK-i-Uk). 



Mr. Nelson obtained a skull from ISTulato ■nbicli differs iu no way from skulls of the Black 

 Bear from the State of New York. It is adult but not old, tbe frontoparietal and other sutures 

 being plainly marked and the cusps of the molars but little worn. Its dimensions are as follows: 



Measurements. 

 [Skull No. 21491 (250) i Nulato.] 



Basi-cranial ]en2tlj 



Zygomatic width 



Least distauce betwoeu oibits in front 



Distance between post-orbital i)rocesses 



Lenjith of nasal 



Length of ' ' palate " 



Anterior margin of canine to posterior margin of last molar 



Greatest length of mandible 



Height of mandible from extremity of angle to center of coronoid margin 



List of S2>ecimeiis. 



Biographical notes. — Throughout the Territory, wherever trees and large bushes occur, this ani- 

 mal is found, but it is far more numerous iu the interior than near the coast. North of Bristol Bay 

 they very rarely reach the immediate vicinity of the sea, but occur on the peninsula of Aliaska and 

 the adjacent island of Uuimak. They are uukuowu on the remainder of the Aleutian chain and 

 the islands of Bering Sea, but occur on Kadiak Island and southward along the coast. The 

 headwaters of the Yukon and Kuskoquim Elvers seem to be their center of abundance in Northern 

 Alaska, although hundreds of their skins are obtained each year at Nulato and Anvik. 



In November, or the last of October, when severe weather begins, these bears find some shel- 

 tered cleft or cavern in the rocks, where they prepare a bed of grasses and other soft material and 

 retire to hibernate until warm weather in April and May thaws them out again. On the Upper 

 Yukon the Indians shoot, spear, or trap them, and some of the bravest and most powerful hunters 

 sometimes attack and kill them with a himtiug knife. This is not often tried, however, and before 

 the hunter makes the attack he wraps a blanket or hi.s hunting shirt around his left fore-arm, and, 

 with the knife iu his right hand, meets the bear. As the latter rises upon his haunches the 

 protected arm is thrust out for the bear to seize with teeth and claws, and at the same time the 

 fatal thrust of the knife is made under the guard thus formed. 



In winter or spring, when the Indians find a bear's den, the entrance is nearly closed with logs, 

 leaving a hole large enough for the bear to thrust out his head. The bear is then stirred up until 

 he awakes and rushes to the entrance of his den iu a rage and receives a blow from an ax or a 

 bullet that kills him on the spot. The young men sometimes make the logs fast about the entrance, 

 so that the bear cannot escape, and then take the maidens of their choice out and let them shoot 

 the bear when it thrusts its head out of the small hole left for that ]nirpose. 



The Indian dogs are very useful iu searching for these hiding places, and sometimes find them 

 under a considerable depth of snow. In spring these bears frequent the banks of streams, where the 

 dead or disabled salmon cast ashore afford them an abundance of food. Later in the season the 

 blueberries and other fruits growing on the hillsides furnish them forage, upon which they fatten 

 and become excellent eating. The fur traders all tell of occasionally seeing black bears with a 

 white spot on the chest in front ; this white area is sometimes quite large. 



Both Eskimo and Indians give bears credit for great knowledge and cunning. A hunter of 

 the former people religiously^ refrains from speaking in a disresi^ectful manner of a bear, and is also 



