Oct. 18, 1888. J 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



243 



and could make my preparations accordingly. The pit 

 in which the parents were confined was so constructed 

 that the female was able to seclude herself completely, 

 as she could retire into an inner den, built underground, 

 to reach which she passed some six feet through a pas- 

 sageway, turned a right angle, and then went some 

 eighteen or twenty feet before reaching her bed, consist- 

 ing of a quantity of hay, which Bhe carried in some time 

 before having young. 



During the latter portion of the fall of 1879 I deter- 

 mined to separate the male from the female, thinking 

 perhaps she would act more naturally than if he were 

 allowed to remain with her as formerly. A heavy iron 

 grating was built across the pit and the male was placed 

 on one side, while the female remained on the other, 

 having the run of the inner den. I expected she would 

 show some uneaaineps after being separated from her 

 mate, but she did not, and acted very quietly for about 



f orepaw. -j^in, ; girth of head, 5£in,; length of head, 

 2Jin.; weight, lib. 3^oz. 



"2d Length, from tip of nose to end of tail, 10±in.; 

 girth, 8in. ; foreleg, 3|in. ; weight, lib. 2-Joz. 



"3d. Length, 9|in.: girth, 7^in.; weight, lib. 2oz. 



"Color. — The body was of a dusky flesh tint, thickly 

 covered with short, stiff hair, of a dirty white color, with 

 a broad dorsal line of ash colored hairs from the occiput 

 to the tail. The face was rich flesh color. The nose red- 

 dish pink, as were also the ears. The soles of the feet 

 were bright carmine pink. Eyes, tightly closed." 



As remarked by Mr. Dury, the small size of the cubs 

 would instantly attract one's attention, and as the same 

 occurs with the black bear (U. americanus) it strikes me 

 that an answer might be easily given to the query of 

 "How is it that a gravid bear is never killed?" As such 

 animals are usually killed by hunters, and not by scient- 

 ists, and generally at a season when the fcetus would be 



mother did not move from her position, but turning her 

 head looked at it for a few moments and then resumed 

 her gaze toward the front of the pit. The male got up, 

 walked across to the door, smelledthe youngster, returned 

 to the grating, reared up with his back toward it, gave 

 himself a good rubbing, squatted on his haunches and 

 kept his eyes on the cub. In a few momemts it attempted 

 to pass out, but was stopped by the mother, who trotted 

 up, and after licking it, carefully stepped over it, and 

 gathering it under her chin passed her forepaws around 

 it and gently drew it backward out of sight. In a short 

 time she reappeared and resumed her place at the front 

 grating. As there was a deep basin filled with water in 

 the pit, I summoned assistance and had some large pieces 

 of joist dropped into it, to serve as floats if the cub should 

 happen to fall into the water. At the first splash of the 

 timber the female gave an angry snort and darted into 

 the inner den, slowly followed by the male, but as soon 



A PAIR OF GRIZZLY CUBS Fbom a Photogeaph. 



two months, until the young ones were born. The morn- 

 ing after birth she came outside and seemed very anxious 

 to have his company, but showed no signs of anger. The 

 next morning she again came out, remained but a short 

 time, and the cries of the young were heard several 

 times during the day. On the following morning she 

 came out and lay down, which being contrary to her 

 usual habit, the door leading to the inner den was closed 

 and search made for the young, but they could not be 

 found, consequently the natural inference was that she 

 had eaten them, and I concluded that henceforth it 

 would be best to leave them together. On the birth of 

 the next litter, Jan. 10, 1880, as usual the mother refused 

 to take any notice of them ; they were removed and the 

 attempt was unsuccessfully made to rear them by bottle. 

 These were the young ones examined by Mr. Chas. Dury, 

 and the following extract from his short article on them 

 in the Journal of the Cincinnati Society of Natural His- 

 tory, April, 1881, gives an exact description of their ap- 

 pearance and measurements. 



"At sight, one is impressed with the very small size of 

 the cubs in proportion to the great size of the parents. 

 Shortly after the birth of the third cub, the mother came 

 away from them, and it was decided to remove them and 

 try to rear them by hand. When brought away, and 

 warmly wrapped in Angola goat skin, the little creatures 

 sucked readily from a bottle filled with cow's milk. 

 They were very strong and vigorous, and when chilled 

 or handled, manifested their displeasure with vociferous 

 yells, that in tone resembled the cries of a very young 

 human infant. Measurements and weights were as fol- 

 lows: 



"1st. Length from tip of nose to end of tail, 9^., 

 circumference of body, behind foreleg, 8£in.; length of 

 foreleg, from head of humerus to claw, 3^in. ; claw of 



exceedingly small and imperfectly developed, it would 

 be apt to be overlooked by any one but an expert. 



Again in 1882 the mother refused to suckle the cubs, 

 and I began to despair of even making a partial attempt 

 at rearing. On the morning of Jan. 16, 1883, the keeper 

 reported that he had heard the cry of a single one. It 

 was very stormy and cold weather, and the mother did 

 not come out in the open pit for several days, but the cry 

 of the cub could be frequently heard, and I began to hope 

 for success. After the lapse of a week I ventured down 

 to the pit; no one but the keeper having been allowed in 

 the vicinity during the interval, and no opera habitue 

 ever enjoyed the notes of a favorite aria with more pleas- 

 ure that I felt in listening to the petulant cries of the 

 youngster. From that time forward the mother would 

 only leave the cub long enough to get her food, and I 

 noticed that the male had been forced to take up his 

 sleeping quarters just inside the entrance to the inner 

 den. Judging from my experience with the black bear, 

 I supposed that it would be some eighty days before the 

 young one would leave the nest. At the end of that 

 period the female began to lengthen her time of remain- 

 ing outside, and by using the keeper's passage I approached 

 within a few feet of the nest, with only a heavy oaken 

 partition between me and it. I could distinctly hear the cry 

 receding from me in the direction of the entrance, but the 

 mother would always come in before the cub could get out 

 and bundle it back into the nest. Finally, on the afternoon 

 of March 20, while standing and watching the parents, 

 both of which were sitting on their haunches in the front 

 of the pit, I heard the cries of the young one, evidently 

 making its way toward the door leading to the outer den. 

 At last I could easily see it. partially hidden by the hay 

 of the male's bed, and utimately it came into full view, 

 with its head within a few inches of the door sill. The 



as we had finished and all became quiet they returned, 

 and proceeded with much caution to fish all the lumber 

 out of the tank and strew it all over the floor of the pit. 

 At night, after they had retired, the door of the inner 

 den was closed, the keepers ventured in, removed the 

 lumber, and I concluded that it would be best not to inter- 

 fere again, but trust to bear wisdom in the future. 



The young one again made its appearance the next 

 afternoon, but did not venture beyond the doorsill. Sev- 

 eral days elapsed before it made the attempt to come out 

 into the open pit; and when it finally did so, it crawled 

 along to the front grating and nestled between its 

 mother's front paws, who was squatted on her haunches, 

 as was her usual custom. As it gained strength it began 

 to play around her, but she never seemed to give herself 

 any concern about it and allowed it to wander about as it 

 wished. Finally it began to approach the male an d attempt 

 to seduce him into a frolic, but the old fellow remained 

 stolid and indifferent until one afternoon it gave him a 

 sharper nip, en arrUre, than usual, when he whirled with 

 an angry grunt and made a pass at it with one of his front 



{>aws. The youngster was too nimble for him and gal- 

 oped off to the back of the pit, and what I had been 

 anxiously expecting occurred. The tank was placed well 

 i in the rear of the pit, with only a narrow ledge between 

 | it and the back wall. In hurrying along it the youngster 

 : lost his balance and pitched headforemost into the water. 

 At the noise of the plash there was a simultaneous rush of 

 both male and female, and as soon as the cub's head ap- 



E eared four great paws were passed underneath him and 

 e was gently lifted out of the water. While coughing 

 and spluttering from the effects of his sudden bsith his 

 mother thrust her nose underneath him and gave him a 

 toss which landed him close to the door of the inner den. 

 He did not wait for a repetition of the operation, but 



