New Britain herald. [microfilm reel] (New Britain, Conn.) 1890-1976, 1928-07-31
food is not vet under way and will

food is not yet under way and will
not be until the salmon run is on.
The bears are In their heyday
after the spawning salmon reach
the creeks which feed from the
snow1ields to the sea. Food is there
in plenty then and the fish form
the mainstay of existence. They are
caught alive and picked up dead.
When plentiful lust bite or two of
the tender part of each fish is Sc
lected, the rest of the carcass being
left for smaller game and birds to
pick up. The Kodiak fishes for
pleasure alone, We were told. it be-
ing quite a usual event along
river TO see d big bear up to his
withers in the stream throwing big
salmon over his shoulders onto the
bank until a pile OF hundreds OF
them has been accumulated.
Berries, small animals, roots, grass
and accumulation of animal matter
along the seashore fill the crannieS
in the bears digestive systems when
the salmon are not present, although
enc kind or another is running near
ly all summer. Soon a deep layer of
tat has been added to the body and
it is time for another Information.
Keeps to Same Tracks
J The Kodiak is an animal of fixed
habits. He travels a daily round
providing he is not disturbed. The
character of the country may have
a bearing on his routine. IT Is i'm
possible 10 go everywhere for even
a bear; in fact it is imperative to
pick a route to get anywhere. Con-
sequenrly in traversable country
bear trails may be found, leading
from on pass TO another in nearly a.
straight line. These trails are worn
deep into the earth and resemble. on
a small scale. little used automo-
The legs of the animal are set wide
apart and he travels along pigeon
toed, but not placing one foot in
front of the other. Consequently
two parallel paths, about eight
inches apart, between which the
grass grows, give away hts "boule-
wards. From there, providing he
is searching for food and not just
travelling, he DIVORCES.
The female bear is accom- panied
by her cubs until they are three
years OF age. They hibernate with
her and she does not breed in the
meantime. During the early youth
of the hears the older dog bears
seem to have a great antipathy for
! the offspring and tackle them with
| the object OF killing at the slightest
opportunity. Eternal watchfulness
on the part of the mother is the
| price CT life of her progeny. In
yariably the male bear grows larger
| and more formidable than the fe-
male and she must use her wits
rather than her strength.
Bites Into Trees
| At many spots along the bear
trails might be found marks Of a
/ peculiar habit. that Of reaching up
and biting deep gashes In the trunks
/ of trees. ANY tree would not do, evil
IDENTIFY, because there We're just a
chosen few at intervals and ancient
| bites as well as fresh ones showed
upon the trunks. Occasionally a
tree had been SO thoroughly chewed
that it had been killed and blown
down. The bear did not do this be
cause his teeth hurt him, else he
would have bitten at random, rather
these trees We're sign-posts' o!
some description, probably challengt
posts marking out the range of thu
bear on which trcspassers must not
come. The chances are that the
| largest bear. the one who could bite
the highest. thereby marked his
property and that a smaller one
possibly the previous owner. would
note the high bite, realize he could
not reach it himself and therefore
would be worsted in battle and
would promptly decamp. We ran
! into marks on trees twice as high
from the ground as We could reach
indicating that a particularly large
! Dear 1lau CONE lIldI way.
Location Affects Color
/ There is comparatively wide
range of color in the Kodiak beal
fur. We saw skins that were al
most white. others that We're Yer,
dark reddish brown, all of them be
ing u variation of tan. l have beer
told that a skin that is PRACTICAL,
black is occasionally seen. l form
ed a theory, after comparing th'
skins with the character of Thu
country in which they We're shot tina
the fur had, possibly through seN
cral generations, finally adapted it
self to the environment in color. II
the thin timbered sections of tn
lower Alaskan peninsula. where vol
canic ash of a gray color predomi
mated in the color scheme, the bear
had the white, or gray cast to thei
| eur. In the heavier timbered coun
try they were darker. Several yar