(See Frontispiece.)
The Brown Bear leads a lonely life in the dark pine forests, and the
deep gorges or on the highest mountain ridges. It makes its den in
caverns, on clefts of the rocks, or in the hollow of some giant old
tree. It generally sleeps during the day and seeks its food at night. It
feeds on the nuts of the beech, and many kinds of wild fruits and
berries, preferring those that are slightly sour, and also seeds,
vegetables and roots. It is very fond of honey, strawberries and grapes
and will travel many miles to procure these delicacies, and it is
especially fond of a swarm of ants, which it likes on account of their
acid taste.
In the lofty region in which it lives, when all these kinds of food
fail, it makes its way down to some of the lower valleys, and ravages
the fields of wheat, oats, etc., and any flesh food that it may find,
especially a carcass of some dead animal. When very hungry it will often
go many miles from home to seek its vegetable or to kill its animal food
if necessary, but at dawn it never fails to return to its own home.
This Bear is very cautious, and if it gets into trouble it is not
because of want of care. It has very keen sight and smell and hearing,
and whenever it goes into a new neighborhood to search for food, it will
first climb to the top of some small tree, and explore the surrounding
space, both by sight and smell. It very seldom enters a trap, and if it
finds a carcass, it will examine it very carefully before attempting to
drag it away and eat it.
When it becomes necessary to kill animals for food, it prefers a sheep
or a goat. It will seldom attack cows, although it has been known to lay
in wait for these near their drinking places, and when it has sprung on
the back of one, it seizes it by the nape of the neck, biting and
tearing it until it bleeds to death. Then, after devouring part of it,
the Bear carries off the remainder.
The Brown Bear is an easy tempered animal, and is cruel only from
necessity. It is happy and comic in its ways. But when it is attacked or
wounded or suddenly disturbed in its sleep, or when its cubs are in
peril, this bear becomes a dangerous foe.