186 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



[Bears, 



ORDER CARNIVORA. 

 URSIDiE. 

 (Bears, and allied animals). — The members of the 

 family group termed Ursidse are characterized for 

 the most part by their robust figure, by their heavy 

 gait, and plantigrade walk, as well as by the tuber- 

 cular surface of the grinders — a form connected 

 with diet, in great part at least, consisting of vege- 

 table products. The alimentary canal is simple. 

 Most of the species are expert climbers : they con- 

 ceal themselves in caves, holes of the earth, or in 

 hollow trees, in which the females produce their 

 young. 



We may here remark that under the general 

 term Plantigrada many genera have been associated 

 together, which are by no means nearly related; 

 and some indeed have been placed with the bears, 

 only from their feet being plantigrade, while in 

 reality they belong to another family group. We 

 shall not adopt the terms Plantigrada or Digitigrada 

 as the names of sections of the Carnivora ; the ani- 

 mals of which order, as will be shown on a future 

 occasion, resolve themselves into well-marked 

 families. 



Genus Ursus. — The animals of this genus, viz., the 

 Bears, are distinguished by their ponderous bulk, 

 massive limbs, and heavy gait : they are completely 

 plantigradein their walk, but their huge claws, which 

 are tremendous weapons, are not retractile ; they 

 are, however, well adapted for digging. They are 

 completely omnivorous, devouring flesh, vegetable 

 roots, grain, fruits, and honey. " The bear," says 

 Aristotle, "is an omnivorous animal, and by the 

 suppleness of its body climbs trees, and eats the 

 fruits, and also legumes ; it devours honey likewise, 

 having first broken up the hives ; as well as crabs, 

 ants, and flesh." 



In the ' Tour on the Prairies,' the ranger describes 

 the fondness of the bear for honey in language 

 which, if it be not quite classical, is at all events 

 graphic. "The bears is the knowingest varmint for 

 finding out a bee-tree in the world ; they '11 gnaw 

 for a whole day together at the trunk, till they make 

 a.'hole big enough to get in their paws, and then 

 they '11 haul out the honey, bees and all." 



We do not know whether the predilection of the 

 bear for this luscious food ever brings him into the 

 trouble in which he is represented in our woodcut, 

 Fig. 823 ; but we may easily conceive that the swarm 

 would endeavour to revenge the assaults upon their 

 hive. 



The dental formula of the genus Ursus is as fol- 

 6 1—1 6—6 



lows: — Incisors -; Canines 1 — r; Molars z — z"=42 

 b r — l / — / 



(Fig. 824.) Fig. 827 represents the skeleton of the 

 Polar Bear. 



The feet are 5-toed ; the fail is short; the limbs 

 are robust ; the eyes are small, but quick and ani- 

 mated ; and the head is large and broad across the 

 top. 



Europe, Asia, and America present us each with 

 their peculiar species of this genus ; but with respect 

 to Africa the existence of any there has been more 

 than doubted, and many attempts have been made 

 to explain away the passages in ancient writers re- 

 ferring to the bear in Africa. 



Pliny, however, not only asserts that the bear is 

 not an African animal, but expresses surprise at a 

 statement in some records that a hundred Numidian 

 bears were brought to Rome during the consulship 

 of M. Piso and M. Messala, for the Circus, by 

 Domitius Ahenobarbus, curule sedile, who also 

 brought a hundred ^Ethiopian chasseurs (see 

 lib. viii.). But as Pliny elsewhere states that there 

 are neither boars, nor stags, nor goats, nor bears 

 in Africa, we know how far he can be trusted. 

 That there are bears in Africa, notwithstanding 

 all that has been said to the contrary, is now well 

 established. 



Ehrenberg hunted a bear in Abyssinia : his words 

 are, "Moreover we ourselves have seen in the 

 mountains of Abyssinia, and therefore in Africa 

 itself, an animal most like to a bear — nay, why had 

 I not said a bear ? — and hunted it repeatedly, but 

 in vain. It is called by the natives Karrai." And 

 he also observes that Forskal has brought tidings of 

 an indigenous Arabian bear. 



It is ascertained, moreover, that the bear exists on 

 the range of the Atlas and the Tetuan mountains ; 

 and in a letter to the curator of the Zoological 

 Society, from Edward Blyth, Esq., while on his 

 voyage to India, is the following interesting pas- 

 sage : — 



" Upon questioning Mr. Crowther respecting the 

 bear of Mount Atlas, which has been suspected to 

 be the Syriacus, he knew it well, and it proves to be 

 a very different animal. An adult female was infe- 

 rior in size to the American black bear, but more 

 robustly formed, the face much shorter and broader, 

 though the muzzle was pointed, and both its toes 

 and claws were remarkably short (for a bear), the 



latter being also particularly stout. Hair black, or 

 rather of a brownish black, and shaggy, about four 

 or five inches long ; but, on the under parts, of an 

 orange rufous colour ; the muzzle black. This 

 individual was killed at the foot of the Tetuan 

 mountains, about twenty-five miles from that of the 

 Atlas. It is considered a rare species in that part ; 

 and feeds on roots, acorns, and fruits. It does not 

 climb with facility ; and is stated to be very different- 

 looking from any other bear. The skin, like that of 

 the ' Sherif-al-Wady,'* was attempted to be pre- 

 served, but unfortunately met with the same fate." 

 (' Zool. Proceeds.' August 10, 1841.) 



The genus Ursus has been divided into the fol- 

 lowing sub-genera, upon somewhat uncertain 

 grounds, viz. : — Danis, Prochilus, Helarctos, and 

 Thalarctos. 



823, 828, 829, 830.— The Brown Bear 



{Ursus Arctos). Ours of the French: Orso of the 

 Italians ; Bar of the Germans ; Bjorn of the Swedes. 

 This species, which is spread through all the moun- 

 tain districts of Europe, from the arctic circle to the 

 Alps and Pyrenees, and, as it is stated, through 

 Siberia, Kamtschatka, and even Japan to the east- 

 ward, was formerly a tenant of the forests and wild 

 hills of our island ; whence in the time of the Romans 

 it was imported to the capital of the world, in order 

 to gratify the people by its combats in the Circus. 

 If Martial may be trusted, its ferocity was sometimes 

 turned against the persons of criminals, who were 

 condemned to a horrid death. 



The bear appears to have lingered, as did the 

 wolf, longer in Scotland than in England, that 

 country affording it better concealment ; for in 

 ' The History of the Gordons' it is stated that one 

 of the family, so late as the year 1057, was directed 

 by the king to carry three bears' heads on his ban- 

 ner, as a reward for his valour in slaying a fierce 

 bear. 



In later times, when a virgin queen enjoyed the 

 sports of the bear-garden in Southwark, and a bear- 

 ward Avas kept in the establishment of the highest 

 nobility, bears were imported from the Continent to 

 fight with savage dogs for " his lordshippe's pas- 

 time," no less than for the diversion of the com- 

 monalty. Such were the recreations of " the good 

 old English gentleman, all in the olden time.'' 



The general habits of the bear are well known : 

 unsocial and solitary, they frequent the gloomiest 

 recesses among the mountains, glens, and caverns, 

 and the depths of the forests : there they dig or en- 

 large a cave in which to dw T ell, or usurp the hollow 

 of some huge decayed tree, or form a sort of rude den 

 under the covert of a maze of intertwined branches, 

 lining their habitation with moss. Here they pass 

 the winter, in a state bordering on torpidity ; and it 

 is during this retirement, in January, that the female 

 brings forth her young, which are well formed, and 

 very far from being the shapeless mass supposed by 

 the ancients. The cubs are from one to three in 

 number— mostly, however, two ; at first their eyes 

 are closed, and they remain blind for thirty days. 

 When the bear retires to its winter-quarters on the 

 approach of the cold season it is very fat, but on 

 coming forth in the spring is generally observed to 

 be lean, the fat having been absorbed for the nutri- 

 ment of the system during the animal's torpidity : 

 but a query here exists, — is the female, who pro- 

 duces her young, and has to attend to them, torpid ? 

 and can she suckle them without receiving any 

 aliment herself? This is very improbable ; and 

 tends to prove that the seclusion of the animal is 

 neither so absolute, nor its torpidity so complete, as 

 is generally asserted. That bears support them- 

 selves in their winter retirement by sucking their 

 paws is a vulgar error, and need not be seriously 

 refuted. 



Unless provoked by aggression, or incited by 

 hunger, the Brown Bear seldom attacks man ; but 

 when roused is most formidable, and displays 

 greater activity and address than might be expected 

 from its heavy clumsy figure. Its strength is pro- 

 digious. Mr. Nilsson, a Swede, states that a bear 

 has been seen, bearing a dead horse in his fore paws, 

 to walk on his hind legs on a tree stretched across 

 a river. (Fig. 828.) The firm support afforded by 

 the well-developed sole and the form of the hinder 

 limbs (the thigh-bone, though shorter, closely re- 

 sembling in form that of man) enable these animals 

 not only to rear themselves up on their hind feet, 

 but even to walk erect with considerable facility, 

 as was observed by Mr. Lloyd ('Northern Field- 

 Sports'), who asserts that they can proceed along in 

 that position bearing the heaviest burdens. 



In the wilds of the North the bear attains to a 

 prodigious magnitude : Mr. Lloyd killed one of the 

 weight of four ^hundred and sixty pounds, and they 

 have been found to exceed seven hundred. 



Though bears, as Mr. Falk informs us, may reside 

 for years in the neighbourhood of cattle without 

 doing them any injury, yet they will sometimes 



* A new species of Ox. Its skia was destroyed by rats. 



visit herds solely from the desire of prey, and in- 

 stances have been known of their climbing upon 

 and tearing off the roofs of cow-houses, in order to 

 gain admittance to the cattle confined within, which, 

 after slaughtering, they have managed to drag 

 through the opening in the low roof, and carry 

 away. 



In the North the bear is hunted and taken in 

 pit-falls and traps of various kinds, and in some 

 countries there is no part of the animal which is 

 without value. 



The courage and devotion of the female bear in 

 defence of her young are proverbial. No adventure 

 can be fraught with more danger to the hunter than 

 an attack upon one accompanied by her cubs, for 

 the sake of which wounds and even death are en- 

 countered with unflinching resolution, uttering deep 

 growls till the last moment. 



The bear climbs trees or rocks with great dex- 

 terity, and descends in the attitude in which it as- 

 cends, availing itself cautiously of every projection. 

 Those who have seen the bears in the Zoological 

 Gardens climb to the top of their long poles, and 

 fearlessly balance themselves at the top, soliciting 

 food from the visitors, may conceive some idea of 

 the animal's address. It also swims well and fast, 

 and during the heat of summer frequently takes the 

 water for the sake of the bath. When captured 

 young, the bear is easily domesticated, and evinces 

 no trifling share of intelligence. The age to which 

 it attains is very considerable. Individuals have 

 been kept between forty and fifty years in cap- 

 tivity. 



A variety (Ursus Pyrenaicus, F. Cuv.), considered 

 by some naturalists as a distinct species, inhabits 

 the Pyrenees and the Asturias. 



831, 832.— The Siberian Bear 



(Ursus collaris) approaches close in form to the 

 Brown Bear, with the distinction of a large whitish 

 collar, which passes over the upper part of the back 

 and shoulders, and is completed on the breast. 

 This is not improbably also a variety. 



Dr. Richardson describes a Brown Bear which 

 he terms the Barren-ground Bear (Ursus Arctos ? 

 Americanus), and which is a native of the barren 

 lands lying northward and eastward of the Great. 

 Slave Lake and extending to the Arctic Sea. '■ It 

 differs," he says, "from the American Black Bear, 

 in its greater size, profile, physiognomy, longer soles, 

 and fail ; and from the Grisly Bear also in colour 

 and the comparative smallness of its claws. Its 

 greatest affinity is with the Brown Bear of Norway, 

 but its identity with that species has not been esta- 

 blished by actual comparison. It frequents the 

 sea-coast in the autumn in considerable numbers 

 for the purpose of feeding on fish." 



833, 834, 835. — The American Black Bear 

 (Ursus Americanus). This species, the Sass of the 

 Chippewayan Indians, the Musquaw of the Crees, is 

 smaller than the Brown Bear ; its muzzle is narrower, 

 more arched and pointed, continued in a line with- 

 out interruption from the forehead ; the ears are 

 more distant ; and the fur, instead of being shaggy, 

 is soft, smooth, and glossy black. 



" The Black Bear," says Dr. Richardson, " inhabits 

 every wooded district of the American continent, 

 from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from Carolina 

 to the shores of the Arctic Sea." Everywhere, how- 

 ever, its numbers have been greatly thinned, owing 

 to the value of the animal's skin in commerce; 

 besides which the tide of European colonization has 

 driven it to remoter districts, to mountain ranges, 

 and vast forests as yet untouched by the axe, of 

 only recently invaded by the settler. In some parts 

 of Canada it is still common, and tolerably abun- 

 dant on the wesfern coast as far as California. It 

 has, we believe, been seen, but that rarely, in the 

 Blue Ridge in Virginia. 



The Black Bear feeds on berries and wild fruits; 

 and to these it adds roots and eggs ; and though it 

 does not refuse animal food, yet it does not eat it 

 from choice, but necessity ; utterly neglecting it if 

 vegetable aliment can be obtained. 



This species is not very daring, and, unless forced 

 to self-defence, or wounded, will seldom venture to 

 attack a man, except in the instance of a female 

 with cubs, the retreat of which she is solicitous to 

 cover. 



Its speed is said not to be very great, and it is as- 

 serted that a man may easily escape, especially in a 

 willow grove, or in the midst of loose grass, where 

 it stops for the purpose of reconnoitring. Dr. 

 Richardson, however, "saw one make off with a 

 speed that would have baffled the fleetest runner ; 

 and ascend a nearly perpendicular cliff with a fa- 

 cility that a cat might envy." In the Fur Countries 

 this species usually hybemates, selecting a spot 

 under a fallen tree, where it scratches a hollow in 

 the earth ; here it retires at the commencement of 

 a snow-storm, and the snow soon furnishes it with a 

 close warm covering. Its breath makes a small 



