THE POLAR BEAR’S CUNNING.

Globe, Volume V, Issue 558, 1 April 1876, Page 3

THE POLAR BEAR’S CUNNING.

According to the Esquimaux, the seal constructs its abode beneath the surface of the ice in such a manner that it can enter it from the water below ; here the young seal passes its infancy; and when the returning heat of summer has destroyed its igloo or dwelling, the young seal is able to take care of itself ; but this mode of lodging its youth beneath the ice is well known to the bear, who, with his keen scent, soon detects the whereabouts of the seal’s nursery ; and, in order to gain entrance, makes a spring and comes down heavily on the top of the igloo, crushes it in, and immediately siezes the young seal with his paw. Here it might be supposed the hungry bear at once devours its prey ; but no, it is far to wary to do so. It knows full well that where a baby is, there must of necessity be a mother, and that she will be

in search of her darling; therefore, the bear scrapes away the snow from the seal hole, and holding the young seal by the flippers allows it to flounder about, and when the mother approaches, the bear slowly draws the young seal towards it until the old is within reach, when he seizes her with the other paw, ahd thus captures both. The mode in which the bear captures the seal on the ice is equally ingenious. When at a distance the bear throws itself down and stealthily crawls towards the seal, and if the seal looks up it lies perfectly still and makes, at the same time, a noise which lulls the seal. The bear repeats the operation until it approaches its victim, when it falls a prey to Bruin’s appetite. When attempting to catch a seal in the water, the bear sinks its body beneath the water, leaving only the head above, which resembles a piece of ice ; and when the seal raises it head above the surface Bruin quietly sinks, and, swimming under the seal, seizes it.