BEAR’S GREASE. 
319 
once so common in New York that Bear Market was the name given to one place that made a 
specialty of the meat. 
This Bear’s habitat ranges from the northern portion of the Continent to Mexico. In 
California it is replaced by the Grizzly Bear. 
The fat of the Bear is, as is well known, considered as an infallible specific for increasing 
the growth of the hair and promoting its gloss, and is therefore a valuable article of commerce. 
The only portion of the fat that is legitimately employed for this purpose is the hard white 
fat which is found in the interior of the body. As might be expected from the enormous 
amount of titular “Bear’s grease” which is annually consumed, but a very small proportion 
of the substance which is called by that name has ever formed part of a Bear’s person. The 
pig steps in to make good the deficiency, and the greater portion of the material which is sold 
under the name of Bear’ s grease, is in reality nothing more nor less than hog’ s lard, colored and 
scented in order to charm the eye and nostrils of the purchaser. There is yet another use to 
which the fat of the Bear is put, which will be presently mentioned. 
The chase of the Musquaw, or Black Bear, is an extremely dangerous one, and there are 
but very few Bear-hunters, however dexterous they may be, who do not in the end succumb to 
the claws and teeth of one of these powerful animals. Although it is naturally a very quiet 
and retiring creature, keeping itself aloof from mankind, and never venturing near his haunts 
except when incited by the pangs of fierce hunger, it is a truly ferocious beast when hemmed 
in by its antagonists, and all hope of escape cut off. Seated erect, with its eyeballs darting fury, 
its ears laid closely upon its head, its tongue lolling out of its mouth, and every gesture glow- 
ing with fierce energy, it presents a sight that is sufficient to unnerve any but an experienced 
hunter, who has learned by long practice to preserve a cool demeanor under the most exciting 
circumstances. Horses are almost useless at such a juncture, for unless they have been most 
carefully trained to the task, they are seized with such mental terror at the sight and scent of 
the infuriate animal that they give way to their frantic fears, and become wholly unman- 
ageable by their rider. As the Bear stands, or rather sits at bay, it deals such terrible and 
rapid blows with its ready paws that it strikes down the attacking dogs as if they were so 
many rabbits, and ever and anon makes a furious charge at its enemies. Nothing but a rifle- 
ball seems to check the creature when it is wrought up to this pitch of fury, for even the 
severest wounds from a knife seem, unless they reach the heart, to have only the effect of 
exciting the animal to more furious rage. 
The Musquaw has a curious habit of treading frequently in the same path, so that after a 
little time it makes out for itself certain roads, which are easily detected by the practiced eye 
of the hunter, and often lead to the destruction of the animal which trod them. 
During the month of J une the Bears are very thin, and their flesh is considered to be of no 
value whatever ; so that they enjoy a short period of unmolested ease. As they are especially 
fierce at this time of the year, the hunters have a double reason for keeping aloof from the 
animals which they persecute with a deadly pertinacity throughout the other portions of the 
year. Their peculiar ferocity at this time is attributable to the fact that the male Bears are 
engaged in seeking their mates, and when it happens, as is often the case, that two. or more 
males take a fancy to the same female, they fight for the desired prize with unrelenting fury. 
As is the case with the Bears which have already been mentioned, the Black Bear is in the 
habit of passing the cold months of winter in some comfortable residence which it has prepared 
in the course of the summer. Practical hunters, however, remark that unless the Bear is 
exceedingly fat at the commencement of the cold season, it does not venture to betake itself to 
its winter home, but gets through the winter without hybernation. 
This species of Bear is remarkably prolific, the number of cubs which are produced at a 
birth being from one to four. When newly born they are very small, being only six or eight 
inches in length, and covered with gray hair. The month in which they make their entry into 
the world is either January or February, and they remain under strict maternal control until 
they are six months of age. For the first year of their existence the fur continues to retain 
the gray hue, but when they reach their second year the light-hued hair gives place to the 
glossy black coat which distinguishes the Musquaw. They shed their coat twice in the year ; 
