Mooween the Bear. 20I 



burned district, where ants and berries abound, one is 

 continually finding charred logs, in which the ants 

 nest by thousands, split open from end to end. A 

 few strong claw marks, and the lick of a moist tongue 

 here and there, explain the matter. It shows the 

 extremes of Mooween's taste. Next to honey he 

 prefers red ants, which arc sour as pickles. 



Mooween is e^'en more expert as a boxer than as a 

 fisherman. When the skin is stripped from his fore 

 arms, they are seen to be of great size, with muscles 

 as firm to the touch as so mucli rubber. Long prac- 

 tice has made him immense!)' strong, and quick as a 

 flasli to ward and strike. Woe be to the luckless dog, 

 however large, that A-entures in the excitement of the 

 hunt within reach of his paw. A single swift stroke 

 will generally put the poor brute out of the hunt 

 forever. 



Once Simmo caught a bear bv the hind leg in a 

 steel trap. It was a young bear, a two-year-old; and 

 Simmo thought to save his precious powder by killing 

 it with a club. He cut a heaxy maple stick and, 

 swinging it high above his head, advanced to the trap. 

 Mooween rose to his hind legs, and looked him steadily 

 in the eye, like the trained boxer that he is. Down 

 came the club with a sweep to have felled an ox. 

 There was a tiash from IVIooween's paw; the club 

 spun away into the woods ; and Simmo just escaped 



