[Illustration: POLAR BEARS.]
The Polar Bear is a very distinct species, easily recognized by its
long, flat head, as well as by the white color and smoothness of its
fur. It is an inhabitant of the frozen shores of the northern
hemispheres, and semi-aquatic in its habits, swimming and diving with
the utmost ease and facility, for the purpose of capturing Seals, young
Whales and Fish, upon which it principally feeds; nevertheless, even
this animal is not altogether carnivorous, but feeds greedily on
vegetable substances whenever they can be procured.
The Seal, however, is his favorite food; and Captain Lyon, in the
following passage, describes the mode in which he captures this animal:
“The Bear, on seeing his intended prey, gets quietly into the water and
swims to the leeward of him, from whence, by frequent short dives, he
silently makes his approaches, and so arranges the distance that, at the
last dive, he comes to the spot where the Seal is lying. If the poor
animal attempts to escape by rolling into the water, he falls into the
Bear’s clutches; if, on the contrary, he lies still, his destroyer makes
a powerful spring, kills him on the ice, and devours him at his
leisure.”
The Polar Bear is seldom seen far inland, but frequents the fields of
ice, and swims to icebergs—often at a great distance from the shore.
Captain Sabine saw one half-way between the north and south shores of
Barrow’s Straits, although there was no ice within sight.
The Polar Bear is found further north than any other quadruped, having
been seen by Captain Parry beyond 82 degrees north latitude.
In illustration of the affection of the mother Bear for her young,
Captain Scoresby relates the following anecdote: “A mother Bear with her
two cubs were pursued on the ice by some of the men, and were so closely
approached as to alarm the mother for the safety of her offspring.
“Finding that they could not advance with the desired speed, she used
various artifices to urge them forward, but without success. Determined
to save them if possible, she ran to one of her cubs, placed her nose
under it, and threw it forward as far as possible; then going to the
other, she performed the same action, and repeated it frequently until
she had thus conveyed them to a considerable distance. The young Bears
seemed perfectly conscious of their mother’s intention; for, as soon as
they recovered their feet after being thrown forward, they immediately
ran on in the proper direction, and when the mother came up to renew the
effort, the little rogues uniformly placed themselves across her path,
that they might feel the full advantage of the force exerted for their
safety.”
Doubtless, much of the ferocity of the Polar Bear is to be attributed to
the barrenness of the regions which it inhabits, the absence of
vegetation obliging it to attack animals to supply its craving appetite.
Its domain includes all those solitudes which surround the arctic
pole—Greenland, Spitzbergen, Nova Zembla, &c. Over these vast ice-fields
it reigns supreme.
In the summer time, when the White Bears betake themselves to the
forests farther inland, they attack the Mammals which are natives of
these regions, especially Reindeer.
Most mariners who have been detained by the ice in the polar seas have
had frequent encounters with White Bears. Instances have been known in
which they pursued them into their vessels, even endeavoring to make
their way into cabins at night through the port-holes.
The White Bear is terrible in its attack. Accustomed, as it is, to meet
with little or no resistance, and not even suspecting danger, it rushes
upon Man with a blind fury and determination too often fatal in their
results.
It is not an uncommon thing for White Bears to drift out to sea on
floating icebergs, when they become reduced to the most frightful
distress from hunger. Fatally confined to their icy raft, and utterly
devoid of all means of subsistence, they ultimately attack and devour
one another.
The White or Polar Bear often attains a length of nine feet. Its huge
limbs and powerful claws are developed in fitting proportion to the
massive body; and the soles of its feet are clad with hair, enabling it
to tread with safety on the slippery ice floes, where it finds a home.
Purely carnivorous in its diet, the Polar Bear subsists chiefly on the
Seals it contrives to trap by watching their breathing holes patiently
for hours, or it may be for days together. The fur is of a dirty-white
hue, inclining towards a yellowish-brown tint in the young. When the
Seals are scarce, these Bears will welcome the carcase of a Whale which
has floated beyond the recall of the whaler.
The instinct which prompts the Esquimau to feed upon a fatty diet rich
in carbon, by way of providing in his body a heat-producing basis, also
leads the Bear to choose his food in the fat and blubber of the Seals
and Walruses of his seas. Dr. Robert Brown, in his remarks in the
“Mammals of Greenland,” tells us that he has seen upwards of twenty
Polar Bears feeding on the huge inflated carcase of a Whale in Pond’s
Bay, on the western shores of Davis’s Strait.
The Polar Bear is hunted by the Esquimau chiefly by means of Dogs. Its
flesh, however, is not very desirable. In fact, some parts of the body
of the Polar Bear, such as the liver, are said to possess poisonous
qualities. Scoresby relates cases of illness, and even death, which have
followed upon eating the liver of this animal.
The “nennok,” as the Esquimau terms the Polar Bear, is unusually
regarded as a fierce and predatory animal. When irritated, or at bay,
and when pressed by hunger, this Bear, like every other animal, will
become dangerous. It does not grip or “hug” its enemy, but bites him.