The Bears form the most important family of the “Plantigrade Carnivora.” The sole of the foot is very wide, and the whole surface touches the ground in walking. They are very strong and can easily crush a man to death in their arms. Different members of the family live in various parts of the globe. They eat almost any kind of food, and many of them prefer a vegetable diet; very few of them will kill a man or an animal simply for the sake of food, unless necessity compels them. But they will defend themselves vigorously when attacked, and in spite of their heaviness and their slow motions, they prove very quick and fierce at such times. They can easily overtake a man in running, and most of them climb trees easily.
Bears can stand upright on their hind legs longer than almost any other animal, and they usually take this position when they fight.
In eating, Bears sit down like Dogs, and taking up the food in their paws raise it to their mouths.
When caught young, the Bear may be easily tamed, and its gentle nature enables it to learn many amusing tricks, but it will not often show off these tricks without first expressing its unwillingness by deep growling, and it often gets very angry during the training.
The best known varieties of Bears are the Brown Bear of Europe, the Grizzly and the Black Bear of America, the Syrian Bear, the White or Polar Bear, the Sloth Bear and Malay Bear and the Bornean Bear.
Although their native homes are in America, Europe and Asia (it is uncertain whether any exist in Africa) they are mainly found in the northern regions as they do not like the heat; and when they are found in temperate or warm climates, they generally live in the lofty mountain ridges.
THE BROWN OR ALPINE BEAR.
(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.