Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-06-11
INFANCY OF WILD THINGS.
Helplessness of Bear Cubs Solicitude
 of the Doe for Her Fawn.

35
 of the Doe for Her Pawn.
 Bear cubs are tiny creatures at birth, often no larger than rats" said an observant hemlock woodsman. "A friend of mine had one that, although alive and lively when he found it with it's mother, which he had thoughtless- ly killed, was less than four inches long,
 It was perfectly formed, but soon died, as bear cubs are sure to do if they are less than month old when taken from their mothers. Cubs grow very fast in nature, and when they appear in the spring with their mothers they are as big as half-grown lambs.
 T know many an old hunter who not only will not kill she bears that have cubs, but will take every measure to protect them. This is from no ] prompting of humanity, however. It ] is simply with an eye out for the main chance in the future, when those cubs have grown to bears, fat and in fine I fur.
 l A motherless bear cub is poor prop | erty, and a bear mother nursing her l young is of no use either as meat or for fur. But her cubs in year will | be worth from $1O to $15 apiece, and she will herself be worth more than that by the time she is ready to hole up the next winter.
 "It is not a common thing for 8 bear to have four cubs at birth. I have heard of five at birth. Three are common, two more common, but one may be counted on as being the most common
 .'The instance Of five bear cubs at a birth I can't vouch for from personal Knowledge, although I saw the old bear, and the man who killed her had five cubs, which he declared were All with her when he shot her. The man was known as a person of veracity, but have my own ideas about a man who could find it in his heart to kill a bear that had five helpless little cubs at her side. But that doesn't make him out a liar.
 'I have personal knowledge, never theless, of bear that had eight cubs with her when came across her i'll the woods, and she was caring for them all with motherly tenderness. That was after I had heard of the one with five cubs, and I felt that I had come to a conclusion too llasty as to the veracity of the man who had ex- hibited them.
 '.This bear with eight cubs was such an extraordinary and unheard-of thing that I resolved to capture the whole family alive if could When the old bear saw me she withdrew, with a great show of fierceness, to the refuge of a fallen tree top, hustling the cubs along in advance of her.
 While accommodating to see how it might be possible for me to carry out nay designs on the bear fairly, I stum- bled over a dead bear only few rods from where the other one and the eight cubs had their quarters. It was big bear, and she had her cubs.
 What killed her I do not know. but thought had clear explanation of the other bears remarkable family. She had four cubs of her own, and having come across the orphaned cubs whining on the dead body of their mother, she had adopted them and was rearing them with her own. I made no further efforts to capture that bear family, and the live she bear undoubtedly dined on the car cass of the dead mother of her foster cubs.
 Tt is curious about lawns and their mother. A fawn when first born is for some hours unable to stand. The. doe does not remain beside it, but paces slowly around at considerable distance.
 Every little while she gives a tre- mulous low, bleating call. At the sound the fawn lifts its head and tries to struggle to it's feet.
 Should the doe scent danger, such as the approach of some one in the woods, she runs away in a straight line, but tagging and haltingly, as though she were badly hurt When she is satisfied that she has turned the enemy far enough away, she gives three great flying leaps. which quick 1y take her out of sight. and she re- turs speedily to her helpless young
 "If she is not disturbed, she keeps up the pacing about and the bleating until she sees the fawn able to rise and keep it's feet. Then she prances daintily away in a straight line, choosing always the easiest thorough fare
 As she calls faintIy. stopping every few yards to look over her shoulder to see that the fawn is following, she conducts the little one to hiding place and she can and does hide her fawn from sight, although one may be almost upon it. as absolutely as the hen pheasant cllucks her brood in- to concea1ment at sign of danger New York Sun.
 .UNCANNY PLANT FROM MEXICO.