92 



RECREATION. 



ber has been so reduced that the hunter 

 who succeeds in adding 2 skins to his col- 

 lection in a season considers himself for- 

 tunate. 



Including the Kadiak bear, there are 5 

 distinct species of fish-eating bears in the 

 Alaskan brown bear group, all of them 

 giants of the Ursidae family. As far as 

 known they inhabit the timbered islands 

 and coast region of Western Alaska. These 

 bears are closely allied to the European 

 brown bear, which relationship is used t>y 

 scientists as evidence that the Alaska penin- 

 sula and Siberia were once connected. 



The Alaskan bears vary greatly in color 

 from a pale brown, almost yellow in some 

 cases, to olive brown in others. In the fall, 

 after the hair has attained its full growth, 

 they are much darker than when first 

 emerging from the den in the spring. 



The change from hibernation to a state 

 of activity is governed by the season and 

 locality in which they den up. Along the 

 coast, where the salt air melts the snow 

 and hastens spring, they come out earlier 

 than do the bears living in the interior. 



The natives believe that the females give 

 birth every second or third year. The 

 young, which are brought forth the last of 

 January or first of February, weigh but a 

 few ounces and are the smallest animals 

 born to parents of such huge size. The 

 number of cubs in a litter is one or 2, rarely 

 3. They remain in or near the den until 

 the last of April, at which time they are 

 large and strong enough to accompany 

 their mother on foraging expeditions. They 

 are exceedingly playful and, while the old 

 bear is busy hunting food, linger behind to 

 wrestle or box with each other. The 

 whereabouts of the family is sometimes 

 disclosed by the bawling of the cubs when 

 cuffed by their mother for misdemeanors. 

 At the age of 5 months, were it not for 

 the white collar that frequently encircles 

 the neck, they would be difficult to distin- 

 guish from young grizzlies. The white 

 throat mark usually disappears during the 

 second or third year, although I. have seen 

 skins from animals 4 years old which had 

 white on the chest, and in rare instances 

 a spot is found on the shoulders. Through- 

 out, the first year the cubs remain with 

 their mother, and sometimes hibernate with 

 her, but the following spring they aban- 

 don her to begin an independent life. 



On emerging from the den, about the first 

 of April, the food of the adult brown bears 

 consists almost entirely of grass, roots and 

 leaves, but as the snow disappears from the 

 mountains, they are able to secure berries 

 that were preserved by the early snows of 

 the previous year. Up to the beginning of 

 July, they spend much time on the grassy 

 slopes at and above timber line, and it is 

 not uncommon to find them stretched at 



full length on a boulder or bank of snow, 

 sunning themselves. 



Everything a bear examines he seeks with 

 a view to appease his appetite. Watch one 

 through a pair of field glasses. With head 

 held low, he saunters slowly along, sniffing 

 as he goes. Suddenly he stops and with 

 his paw turns over a stone, pulls to pieces 

 a stump, or digs up a clod of earth in hope 

 of securing a mouse, grub, or bit of tender 

 root that his keen nose has detected. He 

 works tarefuly along, zigzagging his way 

 here and there, until, when he is ready 

 to return to the timber to take his mid- 

 day siesta, the scene of his exploration 

 bears the appearance of having been up- 

 rooted by hogs. Investigation would prob- 

 ably reveal tracks of various ages, where 

 he had previously been, which is proof that 

 this is his favorite feeding ground. The ' 

 experienced hunter then knows that if he 

 remains in the locality and watches, it will 

 be but a few hours until he will secure a 

 shot. 



Once in the timber, Bruin selects a level 

 spot under a tree, or digs a hollow in the 

 cool, damp earth, and after rolling in it, 

 curls up and goes to sleep. He is also 

 fond of taking sunbaths while he sleeps. 

 The attitudes a sleeping bear assumes are 

 many and ridiculous, but his favorite one 

 is lying o'n his side. I have seen them 

 resting on their back, all fours in the air 

 and head turned to one side. When sound 

 asleep they are hard to awaken. On sev- 

 eral occasions after shouting and vigor- 

 ously punching bears under my charge, I 

 have been about to give them up for dead, 

 when they slowly came to their senses and 

 rolled over. 



About 5 o'clock Bruin awakens and 

 again starts out to satisfy the inner bear. 

 He sta}rs away all night, for as he hunts 

 his food more from scent than sight, he 

 leads a nocturnal as well as a diurnal life. 

 Such is the daily life of a brown bear up 

 to the middle of July. The salmon then 

 begin to run up the streams to spawn, and 

 brown bears seek the valleys to feed on 

 them. From then until the middle of Sep- 

 tember the food of bears consists princi- 

 pally of fish and berries. This is the season 

 when bears lay on fat to carry them through 

 the long cold months, and they take advan- 

 tage of every opportunity to glut them- 

 selves.,, 



Along salmon streams and thickets where 

 berries are abundant, bears wear deep wide 

 trails in the moss. At the mouth of 

 streams where the water is shallow, afford- 

 ing them excellent opportunity to catch 

 fish, the grass is so trampled one would 

 think a herd of cattle had been pastured 

 there. At this season the danger of being 

 attacked by bears is increased, for the 

 trails leading to and from the mountains 



