Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-11-22
wonderfully adapted, with its hair-sol-

wonderfully adapted, with its hair-sol-
ed feet. to scramble over ice, and with
its long, 1.-THE body and sinuous limbs
to swim long distances or spring upon
its prey, the seal.
In captivity no bears hibernate. To
the polar bear winter brings O disincli-
nation for baths; to the Malay or Him
alayan, kept indoors, 1t makes no diff
ference; but the black and brown bears
of both sexes eat sparingly at intervals,
and sometimes sleep for two or three
days together in their dens at this
time. In their wild state the black and
brown bears choose a cave or hollow
tree, and there the trapper seeks them
for their pelts and for their abundant
grease. The discolored snow around
the small hole kept open by the AMI
mails breathing does not escape the
trapper's practiced eye. nor the scratch
ed tree trunks where the black bear
has scrambled up to lie hidden in some
hollow, perhaps forty feet above.
This mild-mannered and indolent
beast, which seeks only to turn and
sleep again, falls an easy prey to the
hunter. But the brown bear OF Europe
and the grizzly Of America are reused
to fury when disturbed.
There are various ways Of taking or
turning" the bear. Polar bears, both
young and old, are often taken with a
moose laid around a piece Of blubber In
a hole and captured and packed In one
operation by hauling them into casks
and coopering them. Their love Of
sweet things is the undoing Of other
bears. They will 90 into box traps and
fall traps after honey, or fasten their
heads in a nail-studded molasses bar
rel while sucking the syrup. In some
parts of the world they commit such
havoc while in search Of fruit that cul-
tivators are obliged to spread bird lime
for them.
Catlin, an authority on the animal,
once said that "a man lying down was
medicine to a grizzly, although 1t Is
well-known fact that these monsters Of
from 800 to 1000 pounds weight attack
any man or horse they come across
This characteristic repugnance to touch
anything dead or motionless seems to
indicate that primarily the bear was a
fruit eating beast. This has become an
accepted tenet Of natural history before
the discovery of the offal-eating polar
bear.
Bear talk" was always considered
good medicine" by the Indians. If
bear blocked their path, they addressed
him politely, reminding him Of their
common brotherhood, praising his no
bility and requesting him kindly to al
low them an unmolested passage. This,
it is said, he frequently did for, being
by nature inoffensive, the soft accents
did not disturb him, and so he would go
on his way.
Some naturalists contend that bears
do not hug" while others contend
that, with the exception Of the Polar
bear, they do. 1t is sometimes assert
ed that the bear never walks naturally
on his hind legs, but this statement Is
incorrect. Bears often walk on two
legs after descending tree, and they
have been seen deliberately to assume
an upright attitude in order to toss an
object. The same statement applies to
their wrestling, since they engage In
the most strenuous contests OF this
kind. in which hugging plays a promi-
nent part. An approved half Nelson
often finishes the good-natured bout.
Bears have been held to be dull and
foolish. In the Morse and Russian folk
tales they are the butts Of the peasant
or Of the fox. But few animals, except
are so intelligent. None play
so we'll together, none learn untaught
so many tricks and none are 80 suscep-
tible to education. Bears, too, have a
sense Of humor.
Few sports have had such a great
and extended popularity as bear bait
ing. The Romans imported their bears
from Britain, and the sport can be trac-
ed In England to the conquest or be-
yond. Queen Elizabeth was so fond of
the sport that, by an order in council,
she prohibited plays to be performed
on Thursdays because bear batting and
such pastimes had usually been prac-
York Press.