182 FAMILIAR LIFE IN FIELD AND POEBST. 



but even this was done plaj'fuUy, as though thej 

 didn't care a rap for such stuff. 



But even in his native wilds the black bear is ex- 

 tremely interesting, and not without some irresistibly 

 amusing traits of character, for if he should happen 

 to visit the lumberman's camp while the latter is 

 abroad, he will handle the jug of molasses he may 

 find there with as much ease as a toper handles a jug 



of rum. Indeed, 

 he is particular- 

 ly partial to mo- 

 lasses and pork, 

 and his visits to 

 camp are far 

 from rare. 



The black 

 bear is quite 

 common in many 

 of the wilder- 

 nesses North 

 and South from Maine to Mississippi. He is yet 

 frequently found in the evergreen forests of the 

 "White, Green, Adirondack, and Catskill Mountains. 

 As recently as last summer, at a house not far from 

 my cottage in the White Mountain region, I had the 

 pleasure of feeding a young one in captivity with 

 a pocketful of ginger snaps, which he took very 



The Black Bear in the woods. 



