THE GUN AT HOME AND ABROAD 
she left her victim, but only for a short distance, and each time the cub 
called she returned and savaged the man, who was so badly wounded 
that he was unable to reach his rifle. The bear returned and bit the man 
again and again, and though he managed to save his head and neck he was 
so mangled that he fainted. On recovering his senses he commenced to 
crawl on his hands and knees towards the beach, where he was found 
in a terrible condition two days later by one of his comrades. Mr Bronson, 
the American customs officer of Wrangel Land, who told me these facts, 
and who interviewed the poor fellow in Sitka hospital, said he had sixty- 
two large wounds on his body and limbs, yet being a man of powerful 
constitution he completely recovered in two months. These island bears 
are said to have a worse temper than those of the mainland, and the Indians 
of both places certainly hold them in considerable fear. 
The European brown and the black bear both mate in the spring, but the 
grizzly is said not to pair until midsummer. This, at any rate, is the case 
with those that have been kept in confinement. The sexes remain together 
for a month or two and then separate, and they are said to be faithful to 
one another during this short period. 
The gestation is said to last about six months and the cubs are generally 
produced in the winter retreat in late December or early January. A pair 
mated in July in Central Park Zoo, and the female produced a cub in 
January, and another pair at San Francisco united in June, and the female 
had two cubs on December 23. The mother is very secretive and jealous 
of her offspring, and if much observed she will kill them. In a wild state she 
suckles them for two months before she brings them out, then she soon 
teaches them to eat vegetable and animal food. 
Compared to the size of the adults, the cubs at birth are very small, 
seldom exceeding If to 2 lb. in weight. The young grow rapidly, and in 
two months are as much as 12 to 15 lb. The usual number is two, some- 
times three, and very rarely four. Generally they pass the summer with 
the mother, and the male only joins the party at the breeding season, but 
where two families have probably united, a little herd of six to eight 
have been seen together. 
The young shift for themselves by winter and are supposed to be adult 
and breed in the third year. 
Most of the grizzly’s habits are similar to those of the black bear, and 
a re very much the same as the brown bear of Europe (which is nothing but 
a deteriorated grizzly) and the snow or red bear of Cashmir. All are lovers 
370 
