78 
U. S. p. E. R EXP. AND SURVEYS 47TH PARALLEL. 
PEOCYON HERNANDEZII, Wagler. 
Black Footed Raccoon. 
Baird, Gen. Rep. Mamma's, 1657, 212. 
The raccoon is not an abundant animal in any j)art of the Territory. I have but rarely seen 
their peculiar foot tracks in the mud, and never saw the animal'itself in the woods. The skins 
are not often seen among the Indians. I had, however, an opportunity of observing a tame 
one at Portland, Oregon, which, as well as one I afterwards saw in California, had precisely 
the same habits, impatient cry, and sagacious inquisitiveness, as one which I once kept for 
many months, and allowed to have perfect liberty. The colors, size, and proportions also showed 
no appreciable differences. 
Though this animal has a reputed fondness for oysters, I never saw any signs of its visiting 
the extensive beds at Shoalwater bay, though it sometimes walked along the banks of creeks 
emptying into the bay. 
UESUS AMEEICANUS, Pallas. 
Black Bear. 
Raird, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 225. 
The common black bear of the United States is quite abundant in the wooded portions of the 
Territory, where it is found varying much in color, from which circumstance some authors have 
supposed that there was more tban one species ; I knew, however, of an instance of a black fe- 
male being killed with a number of cubs, all differing in color. One of them, which I saw, was 
of a light yellowish hue. The color, then, does not even indicate a different race, as it varies 
in the young of one litter. 
I have seen bears at a distance, but never got near one, which it is almost impossible to do 
without dogs, in the dense forests and thickets that they frequent. It is said that before lying 
down they always walk some distance with the wind, so that anything following their track 
must necessarily approach to windward and thus give them a chance to escape. From the 
abundance of "signs" in almost every thicket, and the quantities of berries devoured by them, • 
they seem to be extremely common, and their food must be almost entirely vegetable. 1 have 
seen in low springy grounds a kind of "skunk cabbage" torn up by them and the leaf stalks 
devoured. They sometimes also take pigs and other small stock from the farmer, and devour 
the dead salmon on river banks in spring and fall. They are almost always fat, unlike their 
more carnivorous relatives. Several different shrubs are called "Bear berry"* and "Bear 
wood," from their fondness for the fruit, which is, I believe, in every instance uneatable by man. 
UESUS HOEIBILIS, 0 r d . 
Grizzly Bear. 
Baird, Gen. Rep. Mammals, 1857, 219. 
The "Grizzly" is not found in the western wooded regions, nor, I believe, anywhere west of 
the Eocky mountains in this Territory. 
PHOCA. 
Seal. 
Seals frequent the bays and rivers of the Territory in great numbers, ascending the Columbia 
* Arbutus Uva-Urai ; Xylosteum involucralum ; Rhamnus Purshianus. 
