THE POLAR BEAR 



In the pursuit of its prey the polar bear displays great craft and ingenuity. 

 When it spies a seal sleeping by a hole in the ice, or on the edge of an ice-floe, if it 

 succeeds in approaching undetected, it glides swiftly and silently into the water, 

 swims a certain distance under the surface, and then rises to observe the situation 

 of its victim. In this manner, by alternate dives and risings, it progresses till 

 within a short distance, when it makes a final dive, to rise near the sleeping seal, 

 which it generally manages to capture. In summer these bears are almost 

 complete vegetarians, subsisting on grass, berries, lichens, moss, and sea- weed. 

 At other seasons their chief food consists of the flesh of seals, walruses, and the 

 smaller cetaceans, such as the white whale and the so-called blackfish. In some 

 districts they capture fish of various kinds, and more especially salmon. In 

 addition to the above, numbers of the smaller polar mammals, such as the Arctic 

 lemming, are caught and eaten ; while the young and eggs of various sea-birds, 

 especially auks and guillemots, also form a portion of the diet. 



White bears are seldom seen in numbers except where the carcases of whales 

 have been left to rot by the whalers ; and generally these animals go about in pairs, 

 accompanied by one or two cubs, which the female will defend with her life. 



Only when driven by hunger will the white bear venture to attack human 

 beings. Sealers, who were formerly much afraid of them, nowadays attack the 

 bears armed only with lances, and kill large numbers. 



In the far north white bears disappear for the most part during the long 

 Arctic winter, and it is believed that many hibernate, especially as they have 

 occasionally been found in holes. In the winter lair the female gives birth to her 

 tiny, short-haired, and blind cubs, which are usually one or two in number, although 

 triplets occasionally occur. 



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