CHAPTER VI.
THE BEARS.
Except the great cats, no creatures have longer held a place in human interest than the Bears. Their size and formidable equipment of claws and teeth give the touch of fear which goes with admiration. On the other hand, they do not, as a rule, molest human beings, who see them employing their great strength on apparently insignificant objects with some amusement. Except one species, most bears are largely fruit and vegetable feeders. The sloth-bear of India sucks up ants and grubs with its funnel-like lips; the Malayan bear is a honey-eater by profession, scarcely touching other food when it can get the bees' store; and only the great polar bear is entirely carnivorous. The grizzly bear of the Northern Rocky Mountains is largely a flesh-eater, consuming great quantities of putrid salmon in the Columbian rivers. But the ice-bear is ever on the quest for living or dead flesh; it catches seals, devours young sea-fowl and eggs, and can actually kill and eat the gigantic walrus.
Photo by Ottomar Anschütz, Berlin.
AN INVITING ATTITUDE.
The upright position is not natural to the brown bear. It prefers to sit on its hams, and not to stand.
Photo by Fratelli Alinari] [Florence.
THREE PERFORMING BEARS.