New Britain herald. [microfilm reel] (New Britain, Conn.) 1890-1976, 1928-07-31
KODIAK BEAR HAS
LONG WINTER NAP
Alaskan Animal OH for Hiberna'
ton as Snow Threatens
tBY J. NANCED

Although, as l have before stated,
no one may be positive concerning
the habits OF the Kodiak bears,
much NAV be learned Of them from
various signs, tracks and so forth.
coupled with information at hand
and knowledge Of the bear family
generally None of our party on the
"Westwarl" got much opportunity
to watch the bears themselves but
all OF lis became thoroughly famll-
lar with the areas in which they llN-
ed. In a previous article l discus
sed their size and yiciousness, prom
Using to return TO their habits in a
later one.
Noe 4. VI. Alarm Clock
To me the Information period of a
hears year is the most fascinating
thing about them. AS winter APP
preached and there is the threat of
long continued snow in the air the
animals seek the high lands where
they may crawl into small cave or
hide behind projecting rock which
shelters them from the prevailing
wind There they roll mp to sleep
The long winter through. 1t seems
as though they must spend at least
six months in Information and some
uncanny instinct must warn them
against the selection of dangerous
spot where the snow might drift too
deep or a slide bury them hopelessly
under its avalanche. While in hi
hernation all of their organs cease
to function with the exception of the
heart and lungs, which probably
operate much slower than when the
animal is roaming the tundras or
snowfieids. There they sleep until
nature again calls upon them to
awake break from the snowdrift
which has accumulated above and
about them and seek food. Yet it
seems that they are able to resume
active life at any time during the
Information period, in proof of
which we have the word of a trap
per that he shot bear on the sec
ond Of March this year, said bear
having been dislodgcd from his Win
ter home by a snowslide, which
luckily had not buried him. Tie
trapper produced the skin, a very
large one, which|is destined for the
Field Museum in Chicago
Cubs Squirrel-Like in Size
The young are born while the
mother hibernates. it is reasonable
to assume and the cub, or cubs, are
scarcely larger than one of our
grey squirrels. though they are
destined to weigh over thousand
pounds within a couple of years.
Their growth is very rapid. While
in Alaska this spring a cub bear was
picked up by the Reddington party
from alongside a stream. The little
thing had lost its mother recently
It was carried to camp in the peck et
of a game coat, being not much
larger than a housecat. True it wa:
almost starved and very weak
What had happened to its mother
is simply another mystery of the
northland; she was never seen dead
or alive. A few weeks later, after
a diet OF milk and mush, the bear
was as large as medium sized dog,
weighing some 80 pounds and grow
ing fast. 1t was strong enough to
give man quite a little tussle. ir
play. of course, as the poor little
brute was as lnslslont that 1t be ir
company as puppy dog of the
same age would be. Angry grunts
and snorts would come from a shed
in Kodiak, the cubs temporary
home. when she was left alone ever
though there Was plenty of food al
her side. The cub. when we last
saw her was en- route to Washington
D. c., here she viii reside under
the name of Miss Kodiak
Not Hungry Upon Awakening
After coming from their dens the
bear are not in immediate need oi
food and they allow their stomachs
to become accustomed to the recen,
innovation very gradually. They stay
in the neighborhood of the hiberna
ton spots, drifting down to the
snow line to pick up a few blades
of green grass or a willow root OF
two for days. maybe weeks. Tho
green stuff may be varied with III
occasional "Whistlor' or GROUND
squirrel, but the serious business o.