THE BLACK BEAR

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 51, 1 March 1934, Page 9

THE BLACK BEAR

COMEDIAN OF THE WOODS

1/ HIS NUMEROUS TRICKS

Most wild.black bears which I have met were natural: crazy comedians, the exceptions being females with. cubs. The she-bears can. in such instances be raging terrors if they but imagine their offspring to be in danger. The male' bear is a cheery, peaceful customer as long as he is unmolested, writes Harper; Cory in the "Manchester Guardian."' The black bear is born about January 1; usually the litter consists of twins, of which, one may be a black cub and the other one brown or cinnamon. These, puny, tflind creatures weigh only from nine to twelve ounces, although a mature black bear may weigh as much as four hundred pounds,' a development that speaks well for a diet largely vegetarian. The twins have great, heads, long ears, and feet out of all proportion to the rest of their bodies—they, are decidedly grotesque. Forty days are spent in blindness, and the cubs stay in the den for ten weeks. Mother Bear then takes her family for a stroll. The old lady never bothers to look round to see what.the cubs ar« doing; she seems to know that they are imitating her as faithfully as any. naughty boys mimicking their, schoolmaster. IMITATING MOTHER. After her winter spent in the den ths female ha 3 very fender feet; and so she waddles unsteadily over the grass; The cubs waddle in the: same manner on sound, strong feet. If she grunts withpain and stops to lick a paw the cubs grunt and lick a paw. The mother may stand erect to growl at a distant human,' in which case the cubs erect themselves to add their squeaky defiance. Or perhaps the older animal may swat a fly from, her nose—the cubs nearly bang off their snouts although unvisited by. winged pests. Whatever the mother may do they copy without hesitation 'or question. Thus by faithful imitation .they gain an education in the lessons of the wilderness. There is no scarcity of nurseries for these wild babies, for in the trees they are as agile as monkeys. While the mother rests during the drowsy part of the day the cubs play hide-and-seek among the upper branches of the nearest tree. ■ They ascend or descend the trunk hand over fist in. sailor, fashion; if in a hurry to get down they sometimes let go and come down with a rush, hit the ground with a. thud, grunt, and run away unconcernedly. The male cub, when about eighteen, months old, may decide to blaze' his own trail. Off he waddles peering short-sightedly into likely and unlikely places for dainties such as mushrooms and juicy roots. He sniffs the air almost as often as he smells the ground.' for his weak sight makes him depend chiefly upon his nose and ears to warn; him of the approach of danger. His greatest delight is. to rob wild bees of their stores of honey; the bees stine him unmercifully, and Bruin growls and groans with pain, but no amount °\ .suffering will lessen his activity while one scrap of honey remains. And sometimes he takes his revenge by, munching the robbed nest to shreds. - SELF-HELP. # One of his tricks is to watch humans in camp or at work. He sits near ta the actors, but well screened by foliage, and gently moves the branches so that he can peer through.. If surprised by humans he immediately climbs a tree or runs away as fast as he can—he is too good-aatured to fight if he caa escape. At night hs visits the orchards, climbing the laden trees to shake down ripe apples for his supper; or he may visit a pigsty to enjoy a late dinner of juicy sucking-pig. As he grows older the bear becomes more sure of himself when humans are about. He as selective in his friendships, but when, he learns that certain people have good intentions he will-visit them so of tea that he wears out his welcome and becomes a nuisance. In Jasper National Park, Alberta, there are over 4000 wild black bears -who have lost their mistrust of man. Many of them visit' the town sites and make a din in the early hours of the morning as they, upset garbage, tins in their searci' for dainties. Others make daily begging visits to the houses, an* will climb ladders if a slice o£ bacon is placed at the top. The really knowing bears lie across the motor trails to hold up traffic, and tha only way to move them is to call a mounted policeman or to pay atoll of cake or sweets. • Kind-hearted campers make the mistake of giving food to the bears, little knowing that if you feed a wild black bear today he will return tomorrowbringing all his friends for their shard of the bounty. Should the campers beaway the animals willingly help them-* selves, and without evil intent wreck the camp as they rummage for food. It is frightfully hard to turn away a bear empty-handed, for each of these creatures seems to wear a huge-smirk, and he can be so persistently, disarmingly friendly. One needs to be stem with, him—bravery does not enter into the question, although I have heard and read some tall yarns by hunters about his ferocity. The truth is that this clown of the woods will let you photograph him at close quarters if you pay his fee of one tin of honey or jam*