"Really, now," said Ivan, pointing to one of the tracks, "if it wasn't
that I see the marks of claws instead of toes, I should fancy we were
tracking a man instead of a bear--some barefooted Laplander, for
instance. How very like these tracks are to those of a human foot!"
"That is quite true," rejoined Alexis; "there is a very remarkable
resemblance between the footprints of the bear and those of a human
being--especially when the trades have stood a while. As it is, now,
you can see clearly the marks of the claws; but in a day or two, when
the sun or the rain has fallen upon the snow, and melted it a little,
the claw marks will then be filled up with the thaw, and, losing their
sharp outlines, will look much more like the tracks of toes. For that
reason, an old bear-track is, indeed, as you say, very like that of a
human foot."
"And quite as large too?"
"Quite as large: the tracks of some kinds even larger than those of most
men. As, for instance, the white and grizzly species--many individuals
of both having paws over twelve inches in length!"
"The bear does not tread upon his toes in walking, but lays the whole
sole of his foot along the ground--does he not?" asked Ivan.
"Precisely so," replied Alexis; "and hence he is termed a _plantigrade_
animal, to distinguish him from those other kinds, as horses, oxen,
swine, dogs, cats, and so forth, that all, in reality, step upon their
toes."
"There are some other plantigrade animals besides bears?" said Ivan,
interrogatively; "our badger and glutton, for instance?"
"Yes," answered the naturalist. "These are plantigrade; and for this
reason they have been classed along with the bears under the general
name _ursidae_; but in father's opinion, and mine too," added Alexis,
with a slight sparkle of scientific conceit, "this classification is
altogether an erroneous one, and rests upon the very insignificant
support of the plantigrade feet. In all other respects the different
genera of small animals, that have thus been introduced into the family
of the bears are, as unlike the latter almost bears as are to blue
bottles."
"What animals have been included in this family _ursidae_?"
"The European glutton and American wolverine (_gulo_), the badgers of
both continents, and of Asia (_meles_), the raccoon (_procyon_), the
Cape ratel (_mellivora_), the panda (_ailurus_), the benturong
(_ictides_), the coati (_nasua_), the paradoxure (_paradoxurus_), and
even the curious little teledu of Java (_mydaus_). It was Linnaeus
himself who first entered these animals under the heading of _bears_--at
least, such of them as were known in his day; and the French anatomist,
Cuvier, extended this incongruous list to the others. To distinguish
them from the true bears, they divided the family into two branches--the
_ursinae_, or bears properly so called, and the _subursinae_, or little
bears. Now, in my opinion," continued Alexis, "there is not the
slightest necessity for calling these numerous species of animals even
`_little bears_.' They are not bears in any sense of the word: having
scarce any other resemblance to the noble Bruin than their plantigrade
feet. All these animals--the Javanese teledu excepted--have long tails;
some of them, in fact, being very long and very bushy--a characteristic
altogether wanting to the bears, that can hardly be said to have tails
at all. But there are other peculiarities that still more widely
separate the bears from the so called `little bears;' and indeed so many
essential points of difference, that the fact of their being classed
together might easily be shown to be little better than mere anatomical
nonsense. It is an outrage upon common sense," continued Alexis,
warming with his subject, "to regard a raccoon as a bear,--an animal
that is ten times more like a fox, and certainly far nearer to the genus
_canis_ than that of _ursus_. On the other hand, it is equally absurd
to break up the true bears into different _genera_--as these same
anatomists have done; for if there be a family in the world the
individual members of which bear a close family likeness to one another,
that is the family of Master Bruin. Indeed, so like are the different
species, that other learned anatomists have gone to the opposite extreme
of absurdity, and asserted that they are all one and the same! However,
we shall see as we become acquainted with the different members of this
distinguished family, in what respects they differ from each other, and
in what they are alike."
"I have heard," said Ivan, "that here, in Norway and Lapland, there are
two distinct species of the brown bear, besides the black variety, which
is so rare; and I have also heard say that the hunters sometimes capture
a variety of a greyish colour, which they call the `silver bear.' I
think papa mentioned these facts."
"Just so," replied Alexis; "it has been the belief among Swedish
naturalists that there are two species, or at least permanent varieties,
of the brown bear in Northern Europe. They have even gone so far as to
give them separate specific names. One is the _ursus arctos major_,
while the other is _ursas arctos minor_. The former is the larger
animal--more fierce in its nature, and more carnivorous in its food.
The other, or smaller kind, is of a gentler disposition--or at all
events more timid--and instead of preying upon oxen and other domestic
animals, confines itself to eating grubs, ants, roots, berries, and
vegetable substances. In their colour there is no perceptible
difference between the two supposed varieties--more than may be often
found between two individuals notedly of the same kind; and it is only
in size and habits that a distinction has been observed. The latest and
most accurate writers upon this subject believe that the great and
little brown bears are not even varieties; and that the distinctive
characteristics are merely the effects of age, sex, or other accidental
circumstances. It is but natural to suppose that the younger bears
would not be so carnivorous as those of greater age. It is well-known
that preying upon other animals and feeding upon their flesh, is not a
natural instinct of the brown bear; it is a habit that has its origin,
first in the scarcity of other food, but which, once entered upon, soon
develops itself into a strong propensity--almost equalling that of the
_felidae_.
"As to the black bear being a distinct species, that is a question also
much debated among both hunters and naturalists. The hunters say that
the fur of the black European bear is never of that jetty blackness
which characterises the real black bears of American and Asiatic
countries, but only a very dark shade of brown; and they believe that it
is nothing more than the brown fur itself, grown darker in old age.
Certainly they have reason for this belief: since it is a well-known
fact that the brown bears do become darker as they grow older."
"Ha!" said Ivan, with a laugh, "that is just the reverse with us. Look
at Pouchskin there! Your hair was once black, wasn't it, old Pouchy?"
"Yes, Master Ivan, black as a crow's feathers."
"And now you're as grey as a badger. Some day, before long--before we
get home again may be--your moustache, old fellow, will be as white as
an ermine."
"Very like, master, very like--we'll all be a bit older by that time."
"Ha! ha! ha!" laughed Ivan; "you're right there, Pouchy; but go on,
brother!" he added, turning to Alexis, "let us hear all about these
Scandinavian bears. You have not spoken yet of the `silver' ones."
"No," said Alexis; "nor of another kind that is found in these
countries, and that some naturalists have elevated into a different
species--the `ringed bear.'"
"You mean the bears with a white ring round their necks? Yes, I have
heard of them too."
"Just so," rejoined Alexis.
"Well, brother, what do _you_ think? is it a distinct species, or a
permanent variety?"
"Neither one nor the other. It is merely an accidental marking which
some young individuals of the brown bear chance to have, and it scarcely
ever remains beyond the age of _cubhood_. It is only very young bears
that are met with of this colour; and the white ring disappears as they
get older. It is true that hunters now and then meet with an odd ringed
bear of tolerable size and age; but all agree that he is the brown bear,
and not a distinct kind. The same remarks apply to the `silver' bear;
and hunters say that in a litter of three cubs they have found all three
colours--the common brown, the `ringed,' and the `silver,'--while the
old mother herself was a true _ursus arctos_."
"Well, since papa only binds us to the brown and black, it will be a
nice thing if we could fall in with a skin of the ringed and silver
varieties. It would please him all the better. I wonder now what sort
is this fellow we are following? By the size of his tracks he must be a
wopper!"
"No doubt an old male," rejoined Alexis; "but if I am not mistaken, we
shall soon be able to determine that point. The _spar_ gets fresher and
fresher. He must have passed here but a very short while ago; and I
should not wonder if we were to find him in this very ravine."
"See!" exclaimed Ivan, whose eyes had been lifted from the trail, and
bent impatiently forward;--"see! by the great Peter! yonder's a hole,
under the root of that tree. Why might it not be his cave?"
"It looks like enough. Hush! let us keep to the trail, and go up to it
with caution--not a word!"
All three, now scarce breathing--lest the sound should be heard--stole
silently along the trail. The fresh-fallen snow, still soft as
eider-down, enabled them to proceed without making the slightest noise;
and without making any, they crept up, till within half-a-dozen paces of
the tree.
Ivan's conjecture was likely to prove correct. There was a line of
tracks leading up the bank; and around the orifice of the cavity the
snow was considerably trampled down--as if the bear had turned himself
two or three times before entering. That he had entered, the hunters
did not entertain a doubt: there were no return tracks visible in the
snow--only the single line that led up to the mouth of the cave, and
this seemed to prove conclusively that Bruin was "at home."