THE BEAR 
127 
“We would have to ride perhaps for days and 
days, on horseback, to find a wild one. Then we 
might have to turn tail and run for our lives.” 
The children laughed. This sounded as though it 
might be fun, but probably it wouldn’t be in real life. 
“I should like to have a baby one for a pet,” said 
Ginger. “What do bears eat, Uncle Ely?” 
“Almost anything. A grizzly would kill a bison, 
in the old days, and eat its flesh. Or he would spend 
hours picking up ants or berries and tender buds. 
“Of course there are no wild bison left for grizzlies 
to kill now, but a grizzly today might kill a horse or 
cow, or a deer. He would be especially glad to find 
a hollow tree in which bees had stored their honey. 
He will let the bees sting him in order to get the 
sweet. He can catch fish by snatching them from 
brooks and lakes. He will dig out little animals that 
burrow in the ground, and catch field mice. And he 
will always eat the berries or buds. 
“In fact he eats, and eats, and eats all summer, then 
goes to bed in winter, very fat. His long winter sleep 
is called ‘hibernation.’ He lives on his stored fat 
while he sleeps. His bed may be a cave or hollow 
tree, or almost any place where the snow can make a 
blanket. 
