cent islands), North America, and the Andean region, but are absent from Africa, except the Atlas Mountains, and Australasia. As they thrive in confinement, they have always been familiar objects in menageries, and are thus among the best-known of beasts.
Characteristics. Most bears are bulky, and some exceed in size any other carnivore; but this appearance of bulk is largely due to the looseness of the skin, the length of the coarse fur of their coats, the lack of a visible tail, and the comparative shortness of their legs, the whole sole of the foot being pressed to the ground, instead of the toes only, as in most carnivores. In their relationships they stand between the dogs and the fur-bearers (Mustellidæ), but their nearest relatives are the raccoons. Their fossil ancestry is largely represented, and may be traced back to generalized forms in the early Tertiary, whence both dogs and bears seem to have descended by divergent lines.
TEETH OF THE BEAR.
Skull of a young grizzly, showing characteristic dentition.
The bear's head is broad and massive, with extended and somewhat pointed jaws, well furnished with teeth, but lacking the muscular power possessed by dogs. They have 6 cutting teeth above and 6 below, 1 canine tooth on each side in each jaw, with 4 false molars and 2 molars (or grinders) on each side above, and 4 false molars and 3 molars below. The false molars in general are soon shed. The true molars are very large, and have tuberculous crowns suitable for grinding the vegetable food which forms a large part of their fare, and which the loose articulation of the jaw permits. The skeleton is massive and the muscles ‘plated’ and of very great length, while the feet are armed with powerful claws adapted to digging in the ground and to moving or tearing to pieces logs or rocks. All but the heaviest bears are able to climb trees. Their ordinary movements are slow and rather clumsy; yet, when impelled by rage or fear, they will run for a short distance, upon level ground, with a speed that taxes a horse to follow, and will make their way over rocks, rough ice, or up and down steep declivities, or among trees, with surprising quickness and agility. Their eyes are small and their eyesight is probably not very effective; but their hearing, though the ears are externally small, round, and furry, is acute, and their sense of smell is keen. Unless provoked or fearful for the safety of their young, they are not usually aggressive in disposition, but are likely to display curiosity, rising upright upon their hind legs and surveying the intruder calmly. They are rarely cowardly, and when angered or brought to bay will defend themselves or attack most fiercely, seeking to strike their enemy down, or to seize him in a crushing hug and tear him to pieces with their teeth. The larger northern bears are, therefore, justly regarded as very dangerous beasts.
Food and Reproduction.—Bears are adapted by their teeth and digestive organs to a wide variety in food, and no animal is more omnivorous. Besides the flesh of such animals as they can capture, including pigs, calves, colts, and sheep, they eat fish (the chief diet with some species) and reptiles. They are also fond of fruits, berries, bulbous roots, leaves, herbs, grass, and birds' eggs, and of insects and honey, for which they will dig up ant-hills and tear to pieces bees' nests and logs. They require an abundance of water, and are not loth to enter it, some species being remarkably strong swimmers. They go about in pairs, or sometimes in small bands, and are diurnal rather than nocturnal in their habits, though often abroad at night. Each family has some sort of lair in a cave, dense thicket, or some similar place, varying with the circumstances; and there, in the early spring, are brought forth from one to four (usually two) young, which will remain with the mother until fairly well grown. The period of gestation is about seven months. In cold countries the birth of the young finds the mother still in hibernation, which is more or less complete for all the northern species, according to the degree of cold and the amount of snow, which prevents their seeking or obtaining much food. Hence, when they come out in the spring they are likely to be thin and weak. The voice of bears is expressed in whines and coughing growls.
Fur.—The skin of bears forms a fur pelt useful for robes, overcoats, and rugs, and increasing in value with its growing rarity. A complete and ornamentally mounted skin, in the form of a rug, is worth in New York from $75 to $1000 for that of a polar bear, $100 to $500 for a grizzly, and $50 to $250 for a black or brown bear. The flesh is good food, the fat is valuable for the unguent called bear's grease, and the teeth and claws are turned into ornaments by civilized as well as savage artisans.
Classification. The classification of bears is not yet satisfactorily determined, for several so-called species of wide distribution vary and blend confusingly. Naturalists of good judgment have even asserted that all the brown and black bears of the world are identical in species, leaving only the polar bear as another species. Ordinarily, however, the following species are recognized: Polar Bear, and perhaps the Brown Bear (Circumpolar), Brown Bear, Himalayan Black Bear, Japanese Bear, Sloth Bear, and Sun Bear (Old World); Black Bear, Grizzly, Glacier Bear, Kadiak, Dall's Alaskan, and Barren-ground Bears—the last three, perhaps varieties of the Brown Bear (North America); Spectacled Bear (South America). See Plate of Bears.
Polar, White, or Ice Bear. The Polar Bear (Ursus, or Thalassarctus maritimus) is an inhabitant of the entire Arctic regions, where it seems to be extremely numerous upon all coasts and islands, and may wander a vast distance from land upon the ice, or even by swimming, for it has been encountered in the open sea many miles from shore, and sometimes drifts a long way south on ice-floes. In color it is creamy white, with black claws, and the color does not
