The National tribune., 1893-06-15
THE POLAR BEAR.
How He Emerges from His Snow House
after His Winters Nap.
I{shicnno IriItafns

How He Energes from His Snow House
after His Winters Nap.
IChicago Tri5une.l
The white or polar bear is a alternating ami
mal-that is, he spends his Winter in idleness.
He has one to work for him or to support
him while loafing, so he is compelled to go
without food for several months at time, and
passes most Of that period in sleep. He builds
for himself snow house, in size and in inter.
nal construction very much like the house the
Eskimo hunter builds for himself and his
family. The difference is that the house the
man builds is made of snow blocks piled in q
circle. one upon the other, and gradually drawn
inward until entirely closed at the top with a
block that binds the whole structure:
while the bear makes his by burrowing a hole
in a snow bank.
Information of bears, but all my unbeief was
dispelled while travelling on King Williams
Land, north of the American Continent, sev-
eral years ago, when came one day upon such
house in a deep snow-bank on hillside
which had but recently been deserted by its
occupant. Spring had already. arrived, and
the long day of perpetual sunlight had tax Ell
the place of the weary Arctic night. When
first fonnd this structure i thought it was
human habitation; but my Eskimo companion
at once pronounced il bears house. and found
some long white hairs sticking to the snow on
the upper part of the low doorway, which were
sufficient to have convinced any skeptic.
With the long daylight the bears appetite
returns and he leaves the house where he
passed the Winter and roams around in search
of food. He is fat and sleek when he first
goes to sleep, but during his long fast this fat
is entirely consumed, SO that he emerges as
saunt as wolf and quito as hungry. He di-
rects his fO0tsteps at once toward the coast and
goes out upon the ice in search of q sleeping
seal for breakfast.
Ii asleep the seal is easy prey, and so, too, if
in the water, for the bear is almost AS much
at home there as is the SEAL Like all marine
animals, being provided with lungs, the seal
has to come to the surface to breathe at inter-
walls not exceeding 90 minutes. Then he is
apt to find the bear floating around and looking
very much like small cake of ice, but, in
reality, very much alive and on the alert as
soon as his prey comes within reach. Though
he may kill the seal in the water, the bear
finds il more convenient to drag it out SO as to
take his breakfast on the solid ice OF on the
shore.
When bear finds seal summing itself upon
the ice he approaches it with great caution
until within striking distance, when he springs
nimbly upon his victim and dispatches it with
single blow of his powerful paw. While sun.
ming itself the seal takes little maps of but
few minutes duration, and it is at that time
the bear makes his approach. The seal wakes
with start raising its head. looks around for
an enemy, but seeing nothing suspicious it
drops its head, at the same time emitting q
prolonged snore and is again lost in sleep.
While the seals head is elevated the bear lies
fat upon his belly, keeps perfectly still and
looks for all the world like any of the hum
mocks of ice around it. The moment the
seals head drops the bear drags himself eau.
tionsly forward, but is again motionless and
rigid when the head 10 raised, and in this way
arrives at last within reach of the foolish seal.