A GENTLEMANLY BEAR. 313 



for although it loses its growing properties after its twentieth year, it seems permanently to 

 retain the capability of enlargement, and when in a favorable situation will live to a very great 

 age. The weight of an adult Brown Bear in good condition is very great, being some- 

 times from seven to eight hundred pounds when the creature is remarkably fine, and from 

 five to six hundred pounds in ordinary cases. Mr. Falk remarks that a Bear which he 

 killed was so enormously heavy, that when slung on a pole it was a weighty burden for ten 

 bearers. 



The Brown Bear is not so formidable a foe to cattle and flocks as might be supposed 

 from the strength, courage, and voracity of the animal, as it has been often known to live for 

 years in the near vicinity of farms without making any inroads upon the live stock. For- 

 tunately for the farmers and cattle owners of Northern Europe, the Brown Bear is chiefly 

 indebted for its food to roots and vegetable substances, or the sheds and folds would soon 

 be depopulated. As a general fact, the Bear does not trouble itself to pursue the cattle, 

 and in many cases owes its taste for blood to the absurd conduct of the cattle, which are 

 apt to bellow and charge at the Bear as soon as it makes its appearance. The Bear is then 

 provoked to retaliation, and in so doing, learns a taste for blood which never afterwards 

 deserts it. 



When a Bear has once taken up the business of cattle-stealing, there is no peace in the 

 neighborhood until the country is freed from the presence-of the marauder. It is said that the 

 Bear is more virulent in the destruction of cattle when the weather is wet and cloudy than 

 when it is dry and clear. 



Ants form a favorite article of diet with the Bear, which scrapes their nests out of the earth 

 with its powerful talons, and laps up the ants and their so-called "eggs" with its ready 

 tongue. Bees and their sweet produce are greatly to the taste of the Bear, which is said to 

 make occasional raids upon the bee-hives, and to plunder their contents. 



Vegetables of various kinds are favorite articles of diet with the Bear, and in the selection 

 of these dainties the animal evinces considerable taste. According to Mr. Lloyd, "the Bear 

 feeds on roots, and the leaves and small limbs of the aspen, mountain-ash, and other trees ; 

 he is also fond of succulent plants, such as angelica, mountain-thistle, etc. To berries he 

 is likewise very partial, and during the autumnal months, when they are ripe, he devours vast 

 quantities of cranberries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, cloudberries, and other berries 

 common to the Scandinavian forests. Ripe corn he also eats, and sometimes commits no- 

 small havoc amongst it ; for seating himself, as it is said, on his haunches in a field of it, he 

 collects with his outstretched arms nearly a sheaf at a time, the ears of which he then de- 

 vours." 



Even in captivity the Bear retains this fruit-loving propensity. One of these animals, 

 which was being maltreated by a cruel owner, was benevolently purchased by one of my 

 friends, a military officer, who had no sooner concluded the bargain than he repented of his 

 kindness, for the Bear was so demonstrative in its expressions of gratitude that he began to be 

 rather uneasy, and having no possible locality wherein to lodge his new acquisition, he felt 

 himself in some perplexity as to its lodging. However, he got the Bear into a post-chaise, and 

 having taken the precaution to purchase a great many bottles of strawberries, he urged the 

 post-boy to drive at his best speed, and set himself to propitiate his new acquaintance. The 

 Bear took the strawberries in a very polished manner, and ate them deliberately, rejecting the 

 green calices as fastidiously as if it had been accustomed to good society all its life. However, 

 the fruit vanished so fast, that the unfortunate proprietor became alarmed for his own safety, 

 and was not fairly relieved from his fears until he was deposited at the door of the barracks in 

 which the headquarters of his regiment were at that time established. The Bear, on seeing so 

 many blue-coated strangers, became alarmed in its turn, and fled for protection to the only 

 person with whom it was acquainted. 



It so happened that the mess dinner was just served, and that the proprietor of the Bear 

 had but time to make a hasty toilet, and gain the mess-room. On this occasion the command- 

 ing officer was delayed for a few minutes, and while the assembled guests were awaiting his 

 arrival, the Bear walked into the room, having sniffed its way after its master. The unex- 



