96 
MAMMALIA. 
no fear of the bees that angrily swarm about him, his thick hair and 
tough hide protecting him from their stings. When plundering the 
apple orchard he is said to touch only the sweetest fruit. 
He must relish prussic acid, for no article of his comprehensive 
bill-of-fare is more certain to secure his consideration than a tree 
laden with ripe black-cherries. Here he will spend hours at a time, 
glutting upon the handsome fruit, which he leisurely collects from the 
branches, and is apt to return again and again so long as the supply 
holds out. Fields of ripe blackberries also claim a large share of 
attention, and his excessive fondness for them often overcomes his 
natural prudence, and he is sometimes surprised, in broad daylight, 
indulging his appetite in such situations. 
The senses of smell and hearing are so acute in these brutes that 
under ordinary circumstances it is impossible to approach even within 
rifle range of them. But in the fall of the year, during their expedi- 
tions through the clearings, they sometimes wander for miles through 
quite thickly settled portions of country, when, owing to the open 
nature of the ground, they are frequently seen and occasionally shot. 
In Lewis County, about twenty miles west of the western border 
of the Wilderness, is an uninhabited tract of evergreen forest, cover- 
ing portions of the towns of High Market, Osceola, Montague, and 
Pinckney. In this forest dwell many Bears, and in the fall they often 
cross over the intervening valley, a fertile farming country, and enter 
the Adirondacks. At such times they occasionally pass through our 
own grounds, at Locust Grove, in the town of Leyden; and during 
one October, about five years ago, no less than nine Bears were killed 
within six miles from my residence. 
Though good climbers, Bears are unable, on account of their great 
weight, to ascend to the tree tops or climb far out on the branches. 
They are excellent swimmers, crossing with ease not only rivers, but 
even large and broad lakes. Many have been surprised and killed 
while swimming the lakes that abound in the “ North Woods and 
only last year (in July, 1 88 1 ) the steamer Ganouskie, on Lake 
