Bears
_Bears_ are such funny animals, at least some kinds of bears, that you
may like to know all about them.
Bears are found in many countries, and in some countries there are
several kinds of bears.
But you must remember this: _hardly any bear lives in the tropics_;
that means countries where the sun is almost overhead all the months
of the year, so that it is very hot all the time.
But why does not the bear usually live there? Can you guess?
Because the bear is a very _hairy_ animal; and his hair is just like a
thick coat, so that he cannot live where it is very hot all the time.
Of course, once upon a time the bear lived only in places where it was
very cold, and so he grew thick hair to keep out the cold; but now
that he _has_ a thick coat of hair, he cannot go down to hot countries
to live. He does not mind living in a cold country; and the colder the
country is, the thicker is his coat of hair.
What does the bear eat? Most kinds of bears eat berries, fruits, soft
roots of trees, and fish when they can catch it. One or two kinds of
bears eat other things also, which I shall tell you about very soon.
The bears that live in cold countries, where there is heavy snow in
winter, cannot get anything at all to eat in winter. Why? Because
there are no fruits and berries in winter, and the roots of trees are
frozen hard and covered up by the snow.
Then if those bears cannot get anything to eat in winter, what do they
do? They _sleep_!
You know that when you are asleep you do not feel hungry; but as soon
as you wake up you feel hungry again. It is just the same with the
bear; he does not feel very hungry while he sleeps. And he _sleeps
right through the winter months_!
Still, while he is asleep all that time, does he not feel a little bit
hungry? He does. So he uses up the store of food inside his body! I
have told you that the camel carries a store of food in his hump. The
bear has no hump, of course, but he has a _thick chunk of fat all
around his body_ just under his skin; and that chunk of fat is his
_store of food_.
So, when the bear sleeps snugly in his den in the winter months, the
chunk of fat is slowly used up inside his body, and keeps him from
being very hungry.
Of course, he eats such a lot just before the winter, that the chunk
of fat is very thick when he goes to bed. But the chunk is all used up
when he wakes up at the end of the winter, and then he is very hungry
again!
But there is a kind of bear that lives in a place where there is snow
and ice almost all the time. What can _he_ do?
He cannot sleep always! So he has to get something to eat now and
then, and I shall tell you how he does that.
_The Polar Bear_
This kind of bear is called the _polar bear_. (See the picture on page
155.) He lives in a place far up North, where it is always very cold.
The land is nearly covered with snow, and the water at the top of the
sea is frozen. There are no berries or fruits there for the polar bear
to eat; so he has to live on fish, and seal, which is a water animal.
The way the bear catches the fish or the seal is this:
He makes a hole in the ice with his paws, so that he can reach the
water below. Then he sits down very quietly by the edge of the hole,
and waits for a fish or a seal to swim past the hole. Then the bear
pounces on it very quickly with his paw or his jaws, and catches it.
If the ice is too thick for the bear to make a hole through it, he has
to try another way. He comes right down to the part of the sea where
some of the ice has broken off. There he chooses a place at the edge
of the ice, close to the water; and he waits there for a fish or a
seal to swim past. Then he pounces on it and catches it.
Now I shall tell you a few special things that the polar bear has.
His coat of hair is much _thicker_ than the coat of any other bear.
Why? Because he lives in a colder place than any other bear; so he
_needs_ a thicker coat. Also, he sometimes has to swim through the icy
water to get to some floating field of ice, so that he can catch fish
from it. Then, although his hair gets wet, he has a thick lining of
fat inside his coat to keep him warm.
The next special thing about the polar bear is that his hair is _all
white_--like the color of everything around him, which, as I have
told you, is just snow and ice. So when the polar bear sits down very
quietly on the snow and ice, nobody can see him even from a short
distance, because he is the same color as the snow and ice. And that
is why the fish or the seal does not see him, and so gets caught.
[Illustration: Polar Bear]
That is one of the wonderful things about many wild animals--they are
of the _same color as the place where they live_. You know that the
color of a lion is yellow, like the color of sand; and the lion lives
in countries where there are lots of sandy places. You know, too, that
the color of a tiger is yellow, but with black stripes upon the
yellow, so that if you looked at him from a distance, you might think
he was made up of yellow and black stripes. And the tiger lives in the
tall grass, which also looks like yellow and black stripes.
But now I shall tell you more about the polar bear. He has three other
special things: the _soles_ of his feet are _hairy_; he has a _small
head_; and he has a _long neck_.
First, about the soles of his feet. The soles of the feet of other
bears are smooth, just like the feet of all other animals that have to
walk on ordinary ground. But the soles of the polar bear are covered
with long hair, just as is his body. Why? Because he has to walk on
ice, which is very slippery, and he needs to have the soles of his
feet covered with hair, or else he would slip on the ice, just as you
must wear rubbers over your shoes when you have to walk on icy ground.
Now, my dear, just stop for a minute, and think. Among all the
wonderful things that I have told you so far, you have always noticed
that an animal always has _just the very thing he needs! We_ have to
_make_ rubbers, and warm coats, and gloves, and socks, and a dozen
things that we need. But to every animal God has given everything
that he needs, right on his body.
But now let us go on with the polar bear. He has a smaller head than
any other kind of bear. Why? To make it easier for him to put his head
through the hole in the ice, when he is catching fish. Other kinds of
bears do not have to put their heads into a hole to get anything to
eat; so they do not need to have a small head.
The polar bear has also a longer neck than any other kind of bear.
Why? To give him a longer reach in catching the fish with his
jaws--without tumbling into the water himself. Other bears, who live
on dry land, do not need to reach out like that, and so they have
shorter necks.
I shall now tell you about these other kinds of bears.
_American Bears_
First you shall hear about the bears that live in America. The biggest
kind is called the _grizzly bear_. In fact, he is the largest bear in
the world. Some grizzly bears are ten feet tall when they stand up on
their hind legs!
The color of a grizzly bear is yellow, but with many shades;
sometimes between brown and yellow, and sometimes between red and
yellow. Teddy bears, with which you have played, are sometimes made of
that color. Teddy bears of course are very nice, as they are toys; but
I am sorry to say that the real grizzly bear is not nice; he is very
fierce. In fact, he is the only kind of bear that is so fierce. Even
grown-up men do not want to go near him.
The grizzly is found in many parts of North America, near the Rocky
Mountains, from the United States right up to Alaska. He lives on
berries and all kinds of fruits, and also on the soft roots of trees.
But the grizzly bear eats meat also, if he can manage to catch deer or
cattle. That is why cowboys in Colorado and Wyoming do not like the
grizzly bear--he tries to kill and eat their cows.
Besides, he kills a lot of fish. In the Columbia River in Oregon there
are lots of trout and shad, which people like to have for their
dinner. But the grizzly bear gets to the river first, and eats a great
many of the trout and the shad. How does he catch the fish? Why, he
just lies down along the bank, and waits for the fish to rise to the
top of the water. The trout and the shad like to rise to the top of
the water now and again, and swim there. So the grizzly just waits
for a fish to rise--and then he pounces on it and catches it with his
paw. He is so very quick that he hardly ever misses. All kinds of
bears are very clever in catching fish.
_Other Bears_
Another kind of bear is called the _brown bear_. He lives in Europe,
Asia, and also in some parts of America, especially in Alaska. There
he is rather big, though not quite so big as the grizzly bear. He too
lives on berries, fruits, and roots, and he also catches fish. For in
the rivers of Alaska there are lots of salmon.
But the brown bear is not at all fierce, like the grizzly bear. He is
peace-loving, and sometimes quite friendly.
The nicest kind of bear is called the _black bear_. He is found in all
parts of the United States, and in many other countries. He is
sometimes rather small, and is quite full of fun. Almost all the good
stories you may hear about bears are about the black bear.
Many people mistake the black bear for the brown bear; so when you
sometimes hear people talking about a "brown" bear, you may know that
they really mean a "black" bear.
Like other bears, the black bear lives on berries, fruits, and roots,
and also on nuts, if he can find any. But what he likes best is honey!
It is quite amusing to see the bear hold a honeycomb in one paw, scoop
out the honey with the other, and put it into his mouth. It looks just
like a boy holding a pot of jam in one hand, and sticking his fingers
into the jam and putting it on his tongue!
"But do not the bees get angry, and try to sting him?" you may ask.
Of course they do. The bees swarm around the bear and try to sting him
all over. But they cannot! He is _too hairy_! They cannot get through
the hair to sting him on the skin. So he goes on licking the honey and
smacking his lips!
The black bear is always a funny animal. Perhaps you have seen him in
the zoo. He will squat on the ground like a man, and if he sees a
crowd of people before him, he will swing his arms just as a man does
when he talks to a friend. Perhaps the bear has seen some men do that,
and has learned to do the same!
And sometimes he will sit on the ground, hold his tail in his mouth,
and fumble head over heels, or roll over and over, or spin round and
round--just for fun! In fact, the black bear is among the _few
grown-up animals that love to play_. Many _young_ animals of course,
such as kittens, puppy dogs, calves, and many others, love to play.
But most grown-up animals do not seem to care for play, except the
black bear.
When he is caught and tamed, he is still very playful at times. He
will do all sorts of funny tricks, all by himself; and if he sees
anyone watching him, he will try to show how clever he is--just like a
child playing "smarty!"
Once in a lumber camp in the West the men caught and tamed a black
bear. After a time the bear was allowed to walk about the camp, quite
free, as he did not think of running away. One day the men had stopped
work to have their dinner. The bear walked by, and the men petted him
and said nice things to him. Then what do you think happened! The bear
felt so proud of being praised that he went to a sloping log, and
walked along it right to the top. You must know that in a lumber camp
there are lots and lots of huge logs, or trees which the men have cut
down. And one of these logs happened to rest on a slope, that is, with
one end higher than the other.
When the bear reached the top of the log, he sat across it. Then he
held on to the log with his front paws, bent his body, and slid down
the log--just as a boy slides down the banister! Of course the men
laughed, and cheered him. Then just guess what that bear did!
He walked up to the top of the log again, and sat across it, as
before. But now he held on to the log with his knees, not his paws,
and sat straight up without bending, and slid down the log in that
way--just as a boy might hold on to the banister with his knees, not
using his hands at all, and slide down the banister in that way, just
to show how smart he could be!
You may be sure those men cheered the bear, and gave him lots to eat.
There is another kind of black bear that is also funny, though in
another way. He is called the _Himalayan black bear_, because he lives
in India near some huge mountains called the Himalayas. In many ways
he is very much like the black bear of America, but he has a _white
chin_ and _long side-whiskers on his jaws_. Some people think that of
all kinds of bears he is the most handsome.
Although he often goes up very high on the side of the mountains, he
sometimes comes down to the country below, where there are many
villages. But the bear is quite friendly, and never hurts the people
in the villages, although he is strong enough to kill a man. So the
people are also very kind and friendly to him, and never try to hurt
him. When you grow up you may read that there are some people in India
who are always kind to _all_ animals, tame or wild.[2]
[Footnote 2: _To the Teacher._--Please explain to the class that the
sect called Jains do not hurt the smallest creature, and will suffer
the sting of a wasp rather than kill it.]
[Illustration: Himalayan Black Bear]
I am telling you this because you will see very soon what we gain by
being friendly even to a wild animal. The Himalayan black bear, like
the other black bear, is also very fond of honey, and of everything
sweet. In the country where he lives there grows a berry called mawa,
which is very sweet--even sweeter than the strawberry; and the people
of the villages make jam from it.
These berries grow quite wild, on bushes here and there in the fields,
and even in the jungles near by. When the berries are ripe, the people
send out their children to gather them from the bushes in the fields;
and the children carry baskets so as to bring back as many berries as
they can.
But when the berries are ripe, the bears also want to eat them! So it
sometimes happens that half a dozen children are picking the berries
from a thick bush, when suddenly a bear comes round the bush and
starts gobbling up the berries as fast as he can!
Do the children get frightened and run away? Not a bit! They want
_their_ share of the berries, too!
By this time the bush may be getting empty, and the children have not
quite filled their baskets. The bear keeps on gobbling up the berries,
and even pushing past the children to get at a bunch. What then? Why,
the children raise their hands, and _just spank the wild bear_!
"Go away, you have had enough!" they say. "Can't you go to another
bush? There must be others right in the jungle, where _we_ can't go!"
And, can you imagine it, a wild bear there has never hurt a child!
When the children spank him and push him away, telling him that he has
had enough from that bush, he _does_ go away to some other bush. Of
course, the spanking does not really hurt him.
I have told this to you, my dear, just to show you that there is never
any real reason for quarreling and fighting, among children, or even
among men. _If children and wild bears can get along together_, why
cannot children and children, or men and men, or nations and nations?
Surely there are enough berries and other good things for all, if we
only look around!
Remember this always, even when you grow up, if you want to be good
men and women, and good citizens of your country.