ii8 



The Living Animals of the World 



Phuto by L. Mtdlaml, F.ZM.\ 



YouNr; sYraAN bear feoti the Caucasus. 



iXm-Di. Fuu:],hy. 



This ifl, jiroperly speaking, a Syiian bear, Ijut the species is fuund iu the Caucasus and in the Taurus 



Fiange. 



northern rivers. Whether the 

 large hrown bear of the Kooky 

 Mountains is always a grizzly 

 or often this less formidable 

 race is douljtful. The writer 

 inclines to think that it is 

 only the counterpart of the 

 JN'orth European and the 

 jS'orth Asiatic brown bear. 

 The following is Sir Samuel 

 Baker's account of these bears. 

 He says : " When I was in 

 California, experienced in- 

 formants told me that no 

 true grizzly bear was to be 

 found east of the Pacific 

 slope, and that Lord Coke 

 was the only Britisher who 

 had ever killed a real grizzly in California. There are numerous bears of three if not four 

 kinds in the Rocky Mountains. These are frecjuently termed grizzlies ; but it is a misnomer. 

 The true grizzly is far superior in size, but of similar habits, and its weight is from 1,200 lbs. 

 to 1,400 lbs." After giving various reasons for believing this to be a fair weight. Sir Samuel 

 Baker adds that this weight is equivalent to that of an English cart-horse. There are certainly 

 three Bocky Mountain bears — the Grizzly, the Brown, and the small Black Bear. There is 

 probably also another — a cross between the black and the brown. It is ridiculous to say that 

 the 'brown bears which come to eat the refuse on the dust-heaps of the hotels in the Yellow- 

 stone Bark, and let ladies photograph them, are savage grizzly bears. 



The Syrian Bear. 



This bear, which figures in the story of Elislia, is a variety of the brown bear. It is 

 found from the Caucasus to the mountains of Balestine, and is a smnller animal than the true 

 brown bear, weighing about 300 lbs. The fur in summer is of a mixed rusty colour, with a 

 whitish collar on the chest. It steals the grapes on Mount Horeb, and feeds upon ripe fruits, 

 apples, chestnuts, corn, and the like. It is then ready to face the long winter sleep. 



The American Black Bear. 



This is the smallest North American species, and perhaps the most harmless. It seldom 

 weighs more than 400 lbs. Its coat is short and glossy, and its flesh, especially in autumn, is 

 esteemed for food. Ihe early backwoodsmen found it a troublesome neighbour. The bears 

 liked Indian corn, and were not averse to a young pig. " Like the deer," says Audubon, " it 

 changes its haunts with the seasons, and for the same reason— i"is. the desire of obtaining food. 

 During the spring months it searches for food in the low alluvial lands that border the rivers, 

 or by the margins of the inland lakes. There it procures abundance of succulent roots, and of 

 the tender, juicy stems of plants, upon which it chiefly feeds at that season. During the 

 summer heat it enters the gloomy swamps, and passes much of its time in wallowing in the 

 mud like a hog, and contents itself with crayfisli, roots, and nettles; now and then, when 

 hard pressed by hunger, it seizes a young pig, or perhaps a sow or calf. As soon as the 

 different kinds of berries ripen, the bears betake themselves to the high grounds, followed by 

 their cubs. In much-retired jiarts of the country, where there are no hilly grounds, it pays 

 visits to the maize-fields, which it ravages for a while. After this the various kinds of nut" 

 and grapes, acorns and other forest fruits, attract its attention. The black bear is then seen 



