The 
Biography 
of a 
Bear 
By W. H. ELLIOT 
ERY few people have been for- 
V tunate enough to have the op- 
portunity of observing the life 
and habits of bear from the time they 
are cubs until they are fully matured. 
To those of you who have missed such 
an opportunity I want to say that you 
have missed a rare treat. 
Last February some friends went out 
hunting and locating a bear den, were 
delighted upon peering inside to find 
that it was occupied. Having along a 
“fuzee” used in making night signals 
and flares by railroads, they lighted 
this and tossed it into the den. The 
smoke and fumes, as well as the glare, 
had the desired effect, for within thirty 
seconds they were rewarded by seeing 
a very mad large female black bear 
emerge from the den. She was ready 
for anything, but principally trouble, 
and the reason was apparent for behind 
her came a very tiny and angry cub. 
A bullet from a thirty-thirty placed 
half way between the eye and ear ended 
all the mother bear’s trouble and the 
little cub was picked up and placed in 
the back of the stag shirt worn by one 
of the hunters. 
One of them told me afterwards that 
he felt sure that they could have cap- 
tured the cub without killing the mother 
bear, as it appeared in the entrance of 
the den before the bomb was thrown. 
He would have been very foolish to 
have attempted it for the mother would 
have immediately given chase and would 
have kept the trail until that cub was 
given back and would not hesitate to 
commit murder in getting it back. 
There is no way that I know of to cap- 
ture a live cub bear without having 
trouble with the mother sooner or later. 
If a trap was made which would cap- 
ture the cub but not the mother, it 
would not be safe because she would 
454 

Feeding Topsy through the fence. 
stay around until the opportunity af- 
forded and make away with the cub and 
hurt someone while doing it, if given 
the least excuse. 
Have you ever seen a very angry and 
sulking child? This describes the facial 
expression and state of mind of the 
little cub when it was removed from the 
stag shirt. It was poor, weighing about 
two pounds, and all the way round was 
about the most abject specimen of ani- 
mal life one could imagine. A saucer 
of milk was given it’but this was re- 
fused. Not knowing any better, the 
people supposed that when it became 
hungry enough it would drink the milk. 
As the day wore on it became plain 
that other means would have to be re- 
sorted to if the cub was to live. Ac- 
cordingly, an ordinary nursing bottle 
and nipple was purchased, the bottle 
filled with fresh warm cow’s milk, con- 
taining a little sugar and the way the 
cub became interested was surely com- 
ical and gratifying. After the milk, 
she went to sleep and we thought our 
troubles were over until morning, 
thereby again exposing our ignorance 
of a cub bear’s appetite and habits. 
BOUT eleven that night we were 
all awakened by an awful wailing 
and howling and the only thing that 
stopped it was one of us going to the 
cow shed and getting more warm milk. 
This lasted until about daylight and 
then the same thing had to be done all 
over again. During the day she was a 
very quiet and thoughtful cub and did 
not bother anyone nor make any noise 
except when hungry and then she would 
suck her paw and make a little rum- 
bling sound in her throat which is hard 
to describe. 
The second night was a repetition of 
the first, but the next day the cub had 
a a 
How Topsy Grew from 
Two Pounds to One 
Hundred in Nine 
Months 
decided that these strange humans who 
fed and looked after her must be friends 
and were to be trusted. 
HE house, of course, was the first 
she had ever seen and looking 
around her she decided that her bear’s 
heritage of curiosity should be grati- 
fied. This she proceeded to do without 
delay. None of the house furnishings 
escaped her mischievous little black 
eyes. Even the cushions of chairs had 
to be investigated and with disastrous 
results unless she was carefully 
watched, for she had claws, was born 
with them and knew exactly how to use 
them. 
A name had to be decided upon and 
someone happened to hit upon “Topsy,” 
of Uncle Tom’s Cabin fame, who was of 
course black and mischievous, and the 
named seemed to fit so well that the 
cub was christened “Topsy.” In less 
than a week she knew her name and 
would come when called. Sweets, such 
as honey and sugar were given her and 
she soon found them to be much de- 
sired. f 
A bear is a vengeful animal as wit- 
ness the following incident: Topsy’s 
new home was a ranch and in one of 
the windows facing the sun was a box 
of tomato plants. One day she dis- 
covered these and as they had a peculiar 
odor she became real interested in them 
to the point of pulling up one or two 
to see what was under them. She was — 
discovered at it and given a cuff for it 
and went crying into the kitchen and 
crawling into her box whimpered 
about it for a few minutes. Watching 
the lady who had given her the first 
cuff she had ever had, she waited until 
the lady had stepped outside the house 
and then she went very quietly back 
into the room where the plants were. ° 



