Brown and Black Bears.

Otago Witness, Issue 2895, 8 September 1909, Page 74

Brown and Black Bears.

! — How They Use Their Feet. — Beasts, having twice as many feet as birds, have Jearnod to apply th-om to many uses. They dig with them, hold iJown their food with then:, fond I* thf.r children with them, paw thoir friend*. an/I .vnatch their enemies. One <lo2s moro of oi c tiiriijf and another of ai.othoi, and the foe: t--jou show the effects of the occupation, tho claws first, then the- muscle:, and u\\?n li^ Lone, dwindling by disuse, or uu-.ing >tout ar,d strong. Then the joy cf doing whit it can do well impels the l.ea-t further on the Mmc path, and its offspring after it. And this leads at lust to &ijcciah«in The Indian black boar is v "handy man,"' like the British Tar — good a.U round. ft.-, g --eai, eoft paw is a -very serviceable tool and weapon armed with cl.iv.., \vh eh will take the face off a man or brug up y root With equaj eaibe. When a tilack b-r\n has found an ant-hill it takes but a few minutes to tear up the hard, cemented c! ly and lay th-e deep galleries bare : then, putt rig- ;ts frutta-peroha muzzle to the inou- i of each. it draws feuch a bla*t of air through thorn tnat the inJv.atriou-) laboui-">rs d" 1 .-ticL-'fl it. to its gullet in dnfi~ A f ter v. art'- it -h^s light -c'c-mi !o tho jojai chaii'bor, i~'\- up the b!oat?<l que?i , <'ii<i gee, i -\>aj. But the brar is lik-o a '.^n- -~->t ai a pai ting of the ua\- If yon conipaio :i blown bear with th-e bLirk lndiaii o. i'oi'i bsar, as it i= -cinctures c.lKd \cu n.ij detect a small but piegmmt difuretice. When the former >'.a!k-. its rlrv. arz lifted io that their points do not touch the giound. Why? 1 ha\e no infoiniation, but I know that it i^ not con twit with a vegetarian diet, like u= black lelative, but hankers after sheep and goats, and I guo~s that its murderous thoughts flow down it^ ner\es to tho^e keen claw 5 . It reminds me of a man clenching his fist unconsc.oiisly when he thinks of tho liar \\lk> lias slandered him.— E. H. Aitken, in the July Strand Magazine.