192 FAMILIAR LIFE IN FIELD AND FOREST. 



broad hollow stump — if it is big enough — is quite to 

 liis mind. When he is ready to " turn in," his fur is 

 at its best, and it is then that the hunter prepares for 

 his big game. When bruin reappears — probably dur- 

 ing the first warm days of March — he is not the 

 handsome beast that he was ; a long fast and an un- 

 kempt coat make him look a bit the worse for wear, 

 so he is unmolested if he keeps clear of the farmyard. 

 Again, the time of his hibernation is almost entirely 

 dependent upon the condition of the food supply. If 

 food is scarce and the cold is severe, he retires about 

 the first of December ; but if beechnuts are plenty 

 and the weather is mild he will prowl about all win- 

 ter, and the female will den only before the period 

 of bringing forth her young. So long as the male 

 can find enough to eat he will not den, be the weather 

 never so severe. In the Yellowstone Park, which is 

 the largest game preserve in the world, the black 

 and grizzly bears are so tame and plentiful that 

 they have become quite a nuisance by their frequent 

 visits during winter to the garbage dumps in the 

 vicinity of the hotels on the reservation. Dr. Mer- 

 riam states that it is perfectly evident bruin does 

 not den to escape either cold or snow, but to bridge 

 over that period when, if active, he would be unable 

 to procure sufficient food. The females also remain 

 out until the maternal instinct prompts them to seek 



