THE BLACK BEAR. 
719 
cub which increased in size until his fourth 
year, when he appeared to have arrived at 
maturity. 
Many country people and some experienced 
hunters have seen, as they believe, another 
species of the black bear, which they name a 
ranger, or racer. He is described as being a 
longer, taller, and thinner animal than the 
black bear proper, extremely savage, and dis- 
tinguished by a white star or crescent on his 
breast. Marvelous tales are related of his 
ruthless doings, and any act of more than 
ordinary ferocity and daring, such as the 
wanton destruction of a large number of 
sheep, in daylight, in sight of the farm-house, 
is always attributed to a ranger. It is also 
said of him that he never hibernates, but 
prowls about all winter, seeking what he may 
devour, and keeping the farmers constantly 
"on the alert to protect their stock. I have 
never had sufficient proof to warrant beUef in 
the existence of a ranger bear, but have occa- 
sionally met with specimens of the black bear 
answering in some points to the above de- 
scription. For instance, I have seen several 
black bears with white crescents on their 
breasts. The truth probably is that at times, 
during mild winters, a stray black bear may 
be seen prowling about when, in accord- 
ance with all accepted ideas on the subject, 
he should be fast asleep. This probable 
/act, and the variation in size and form com- 
mon to all animals, no doubt account for the 
popular belief in the existence of the ranger 
bear. 
The time when the black bear selects 
the den in which his long winter nap is taken 
depends on the openness or severity of the 
season. In any season he is seldom met 
abroad after the first of December, and is not 
seen again until the first warm days of March. 
He does not seem particular as to the char- 
acter of his den, provided it shields him from 
the inclemency of the weather. A retreat dug 
by his powerful claws under the roots of a 
windfall, a rocky cave on the hill-side, or a 
hollow log, if he can find one large enough 
to admit him, will serve for a winter home. 
When he is ready to hibernate he is in fine 
condition and his fur is at its best. It is at 
this season that the hunters redouble their 
efforts to capture him. When he comes out 
in the spring he is in a sorry condition, and is 
seldom molested unless he makes himself 
troublesome to farmers. Numerous, and curi- 
ous beyond belief, have been the theories and 
explanations offered by naturalists to account 
for the suspension of the functions of nature 
during hibernation. An Indian whom I have 
found to be trustworthy has often called my 
attention to fir-trees which had been freshly 
stripped of their bark, to a distance of five or 
six feet from the ground, and has told me 
that it was the work of bears that were after 
the balsam, large quantities of which, accord- 
ing to the Indian, they eat every autumn 
before going into their dens. It was his theory 
that the balsam prevented bodily waste, and 
that when the bears came out in the spring 
they dug up and ate large quantities of a root 
which had the effect of restoring bodily func- 
tions that had been suspended during the 
period of hibernation. The den is some- 
times revealed by a small opening over his 
place of concealment, where the snow has 
been melted by his breath. When efforts are 
made to dislodge him by making a fire of 
boughs and moss at the entrance to his den, 
he will attempt to trample the fire out, and 
often succeeds. He has, however, a natural 
dread of fire, and at the first signs of a 
forest-fire becomes greatly alarmed, and flies 
to the open clearings and road-ways. I once 
passed on horseback through a forest-fire 
which was burning on each side of the road, 
and most of the distance I was accompanied 
by a big black bear, which was following that 
avenue of escape. 
It would seem improbable that the young 
of the black bear were liable to fall a prey to 
the fox and black cat, or fisher, yet such is 
the fact. This happens, of course, when the 
cubs are very young, and incapable of follow- 
ing their dam in her search for food. The 
black cat is the most successful cub-slayer. 
The fox, notwithstanding his proverbial sagac- 
ity, is often surprised by the leturn of the 
bear, and killed before he can escape from 
the den. An Indian hunter, who knew of 
two litters of cubs which he intended to capt- 
ure as soon as they were old enough to be 
taken from their dam, was anticipated in one 
case by a black cat, and in the other by a 
fox. The latter paid the penalty of his ad- 
venture with his life, and was found in the 
den literally torn into shreds by the furious 
bear. The fox had killed one of the cubs, 
and the old bear, hoping to find a more secure 
place, had gone off with the two remaining 
cubs. The Indian overtook and slew her, and 
captured the cubs. Upon another occasion, 
he was not so fortunate. Stimulated by the 
large price offered by the officers of a garri- 
son town for a pair of live cubs, he was inde- 
fatigable in his endeavors to find a den. One 
day, when accompanied by his little son, a 
boy of ten, he discovered unmistakable 
traces of a bear's den, near the top of a hill 
strewn with granite bowlders, and almost 
impassable from the number of fallen pines. 
One old pine had fallen uphill, and its up- 
reared roots, with the soil clinging to them, 
