May 109, 1906.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
791 


HOME OF THE BLUE BEAR, 
colored specimen of this bear appears bluish- 
white, and the silvery color of the hair and thin 
fine texture combine to produce a very soft effect. 
The darker varieties present more nearly the ap- 
pearance of the silver fox or of a sea otter of 
the first quality. The noticeable feature of the 
pelage is its silvery transparency, which glistens 
like a fairy robe of crystal as it seems to reflect 
the light. 
The range of this bear is most circumscribed. 
A glance at the map of southeastern Alaska dis- 
closes broad glacial regions, extending almost un- 
interruptedly from the Stickheen River (latitude 
56° 40’ N.) northward along the continental shore 
to the vicinity of the Copper River delta (lati- 
tude 60° 30° N.), a stretch of some 500 miles, but 
limited in area by the proximity of the coast 
mountains to the salt water. These vast ice fields, 
the skeletons of former days, have their birth in 
the heart of the loftiest mountains of the contin- 
ent, and flow seaward in ever increasing propor- 
tions, having somewhat the appearance of great 
white fans. The natives endow the glaciers with 
life, and christen them the children of the tower- 
ing mountains, who clasp them to their bosoms, 
and with true parental love cover their bodies 
with the deep soft snows in winter, when Hoon, 
the avenging spirit of the chill north wind, is 
abroad, and in summer when Ko-ghon, the great 
ball of heavenly fire, turns his withering gaze 
upon them, they cast down from their own shoul- 
ders great masses of rock to protect and keep 
them cool. This is the home of the blue bear, but 
seldom is he found along the shores of the in- 
land channels to the southward. There he is 
more of a tradition than a reality. His particu- 
lar habitat is what is known as the Fairweather 
’Ground—included between Cape Spencer and Mt. 
St. Elias—a region of perpetual ice and snow 
‘flanked by wooded foothills and terminating in 
‘an inhospitable coast line, with no well defined 
harbors, sparsely settled by natives and rarely 
visited by Europeans. To this inaccessibility is 
largely due his immunity from scientific investi- 
gation, for the few peltries annually taken by 
native hunters rarely find their way beyond the 
limits of the Territory, as in former years from 
their peculiar color they possessed no market 
value in the eyes of furriers. The Haidas and 
Tsimshians have a traditional knowledge of this 
bear on the headwaters of the Pass River, and 
within the past few years I have seen a dark but 
well marked pelt of this species from the 
Skeena River, which would indicate a more 
southern range than has hitherto been recognized. 
By the few traders and resident whites of the 
northern country this bear has been variously 
named—the “glacier” or “ice” bear, from its pref- 
erence for such localities; the blue bear,. from 
the prevailing color of the fur; and the Mt. St. 
Elias bear, from its geographic position of greater 
abundance. But to the Tlingit. who recognizes 
three distinct species of bear, it is known as 
Klate uh-r-ty tseek, a word compounded of Klate 
—snow, uh-r-ty—like, or similar to; and tseek 
—the name for the black bear; the whole being 
freely translated—‘“a bear white like the snow but 
having the characteristics of the black bear.’ This 
differentiation of species is firmly impressed upon 
the mind of the native, as the gigantic brown 
bear with its fearless disposition and savage 
temper is both venerated as an illustrious an- 
cester and feared as a too worthy opponent, while 
the more timid character of the black and blue 
bears render them objects of little interest to the 
hunter. 
Like all of its cogeners this bear hibernates 
during the winter months. To follow his life 
throughout the year, we will commence with Oc- 
tober, when the first snows creeping down the 
mountain sides powder the foothills. Then, sur- 
feited with his rich feast of salmon, he seeks some 
deep ravine in the tangle of brush and fallen tim- 
ber, and scratching out a shallow bed under some 
old giant of the forest, half buried in the cool 
green moss, goes to sleep, with the single prayer 
that no stray wolfish dog may scent his breathing 
hole, and is soon buried under nature’s soft white 
blanket of snow. Here he remains peacefully 
dreaming and consuming his many layers of fat 
until the warm sun of March thaws him out, 
when he emerges from his seclusion hungry and 
lean, and descends to the lowlands to grub for 
roots and browse on the tender buds,. until the 
berries ripen and the salmon run in from the sea. 
During the day he gives himself up to the luxury 
of a mud bath in the swampy pools which abound 
throughout the fringe of small wood surrounding 
the terminal moraines of the glaciers, or hollows 
out a slight excavation in the snow ice at the 
foot of the glacier and sleeps. In the early morn- 
ing and evening he feeds, wandering through the 
berry patches which cover the landslides on the 
mountain sides, or gorges himself on the pale 
luscious strawberries which ripen in such abund- 
ance all over the sandy plains left by the reced- 
ing ice, or else goes “‘a-fishing’”’ for the fresh-run 
salmon, which crowd the shallow streams and lit- 
erally fill the pools left by the receding tides. 
As the season advances, and the keen edge ot 
his appetite is worn off, he becomes a great epi- 
cure, and feasts only upon the head and nap of 
the neck which are the tid-bits of the salmon 
containing the greatest percentage of fat, and 
on this diet he becomes heavy and sluggish and 
ready to return to winter quarters and rest. 
The female brings forth two cubs about April. 
and they range with the mother throughout the 
summer season, and even for a much longer 
period, as I have several times seen an.old female 
bear in company with two _ half-grown bears 
which were evidently her progeny, and at least 
one or two years of age. 
The early spring is the hunting season for this 
animal, as the fur is then in prime condition and 
most marketable. It is noticeably the case that 
wherever the Hudson’s Bay Company have es- 
tablished their factories in the past they have, 
by refusing to receive poor peltries of animals 
killed out of season, educated the native people 
to the importance of fall and spring hunting. 
The latter season is the most favored, as then the 
bears range more during the daytime in search 
of food, which is now less abundant, and deep 
snows still covering the ground, make progress 
more slow and difficult for the bear, while the 
hunter on his snowshoes, with his keen-scented 
dogs can soon bring bruin to bay or to tree, 
when he falls an easy prey to spear thrust or 
bullet. During the salmon season the hunter lies 
in wait by some favorite pool in the early morn- 
ing or toward sunset, or else, launching his canoe, 
glides noiselessly along in the shadow of the 
shore as evening descends, watching intently for 
the least sign of uneasiness on the part of his 
dogs, when he quickly lands them to pick up the 
trail they have scented and awaits developments. 
If the trail happens to be that of a deer, they will 
sound a long yelp at intervals, but should they 
come across a bear then will follow a chorus of 
sharp, angry cries which will quickly bring their 
master to the scene. 

Biue Bear (Ursus emmonst). 
