24 GAME ANIMALS OF NORTH AMERICA. 



which she cares for with the greatest affection, and in defence of 

 which she will sometimes even fight. 



In some localities in the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevadas 

 these animals are enormously abundant. In the berry season 

 their presence can be detected almost every where in the forests 

 by the number of berries which they have stripped off the bushes, 

 and the torn condition of the soil in many places where they have 

 been digging for roots. In the summer this animal is also a 

 frequenter of thickets where a species of buckthorn grows, as it 

 devours the fruit of this tree with great avidity, though to the genus 

 homo the fruit proves a most violent cathartic. The animal is but 

 little hunted, notwithstanding its numerical strength, owing un- 

 doubtedly to the cheapness of its fur, or else to the difficulty of 

 finding its domicil during the season of hibernation, when its 

 wardrobe is in the best condition for mercantile purposes. 



In the Adirondacks and the woods of Maine, the Black Bear 

 is abundant, and we have often tracked them to their nooning 

 places and jumped them out of warm sunny spots by the side of 

 old logs where they were taking their siesta. The most agreeable 

 way of hunting this species is, however, that first mentioned, and 

 it is also by far the most successful. Black Bears are trapped in 

 large numbers for their hides and are in some localities taken with 

 set-guns which they discharge in their efforts to secure the bait. 



