THE WHITE, OR POLAR BEAR.
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.