BEARS AS FISHERMEN 
since they have been hunted so much. It is most interesting to watch 
an old she-bear with cubs. The cubs do not attempt to fish, but stay on 
the bank and receive contributions. The old she-bear stands upright and 
wades in water even up to her neck, going very slowly with the current, 
watching the water, and making scarcely a ripple in it. She holds her arms 
down at her sides with her hands spread, and when she feels a salmon com- 
ing up against her, clutches it with her claws and throws it out on the bank 
to the expectant cubs. Often she stands perfectly motionless for a con- 
siderable time, and when she moves it is with extreme deliberation and 
caution. After supplying the cubs, she puts the next fish in her mouth 
and goes ashore to eat it. If salmon are plentiful or easily obtained, the 
two sides of a fish are all that she will eat.. . When fishing in shallow 
water, the bear walks slowly on all fours as silently as possible, and when 
a fish appears in a riffle deals it a sharp blow on the head. . . 
“In the fall, toward the end of the salmon run, when fishing becomes 
unprofitable, most of the bears retire to the hills, where they feed on berries 
and put on fat during the last few weeks preceding hibernation. The black 
crowberry (Empetrum nigrum) is eaten in great quantities, and various 
species of Vaccinium which abound are also taken.” 
How the little black bears of the Maine woods go a-fishing 
is related in The American Naturalist (Vol. XVIII, 1884): — 
“T came suddenly upon a very large bear in a thick swamp, lying upon 
a large hollow log across a brook, fishing; and he was so much interested 
in his work that he did not notice me until I had approached very near him. 
He fished in this wise: There was a large hole through the log on which 
he lay, and he thrust his forearm through the hole and held his open paw 
in the water and waited for the fish to gather around and into it, and when 
filled he clutched his fist and brought up a handful of fish, and sat and ate 
them with great gusto; then down with the paw again, and so on. The 
brook was fairly alive with little trout and red-sided suckers, and some black 
suckers. He did not eat their heads. There was quite a pile of them on 
the log. I suppose the oil in his paw attracted the fish and baited them 
even better than a fly hook, and his toe nails were his hooks, and sharp 
ones, too, and once grabbed the fish were sure to stay. They also catch 
frogs in these forest brooks.” 
If this seems small business for such a big beast, still more 
ridiculous is the fact that insects form an important part of 
the diet of all bears, save those of the icy regions; and those 
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