The Life Of Ursus Middendorfii!
(continued from last week)
During the latter part of April
and during the month oi May
the spring thawing of the snow
usually drives the females and
the cubs out of their dens, when
water from the melting snow
begins dripping on their com
fortable bed of grass Consider
able time is then spent near their
home where the mother finds an
abundance of various kinds of
roots and young grass to feed on
while the cubs are continually
playing and growing As the
weather gets warmer and the
cubs larger, the mother starts
out in search of new feeding
grounds and eventually reaches
the great salmon streams, below
her mountain home, and where
the youngsters soon learn the
art of catching salmon. The de
licious Alaska red salmon and
other species of salmon are the
main diet of the Kodiak bear
until the Jjerries start growing
on the hillsides and lower reach
es. Berries by the billions and
of many varieties cover the hills
and banks of the winding streams
Here we see a patch of salmon
berries. Higher up in the pla
teaus in the mountains you find
the mossberries on which the
bears feed later in the season.
Var ation of fish and berry diet
adds tremendously to the growth
of the nursing cubs and when
fall sets in it is hard to believe
that those husky youngsters,
jwhich are now almost the size of
ja small full grown black bear,
are the same little weaklings
that were born six to seven
months earlier in the den. Oct
ober and November finds the
bears looking for the late run of
Silver Salmon along the banks
of the rivers and spawniug(
streams and this, mixed with a
little berries and grpss, forms
their diet until they are ready
to go into hibernation with their
mother in December. Cubs will
usually stay with their mother a'
pear or two, but if she has not 1
mated, cubs are sometimes seen '
with the mother when they are
threejmd even .jour years old,
f
and still nursing during the
summer months The Kodiak
bear however, is like any o'her
bear on the food question eating
anything or everything that is
edible when he is hungry. They
have killed sheep and cattle,
they eat kelp and alder buds
and they will eat decayed meat
of any kind and are even can
nibalistic if hungry enough
As stated before, they mature
when 8 vears old but will con
tinue to fill out as they grow
older The life span of these
bears is estimated at 35 to 40
years, but in some instances it
is believed that they reach the
half century mark or even more.
A full grown bear will weigh ap
proximately 1500 to 1600 pounds
and will have a skin that will
square 10 feet or tietter In some
cases, like human beings, the^
grow to extra large sizes and
weigh almost a ton and have a
pelt twelve feet square. The fe
males seldom grow larger than 9
to 9 1 2 feet, but most skins
will square 8 1-2 feet and there
weight run from 900 to 1200
pouuds. The muscular develop
ment of these animals is amaz
ing, and it is no wonder that
they can climb up the mountain
sides without much effort. Their
sense of smell and hearing is
exceptionally fine, but their eye
sight is very poor as they have
very small eyes for an animal of
such an enormous size.
In the spring of the year the
first to emerge from their winter
hibernating quarters are the
yearlings and two year olds that
have been in hibernation by
themselves. These are followed
by the females with large cubs
and the older bears Last to
show up are old males and fe
males with cubs just born in the
den that spring. After a mild
winter they usually come out
early and spend a period of un
usual traveling, no doubt glad to
have an opportunity of limber
ing up from their long winter
siesta No food of any kind is
taken for two to three days, and
then very gradually of certain
roots which seem to act as a
spring laxative and tonic for
conditioning the delicate and
almost mummified stomach; a
tonic juice which seems to bring
it back to normalcy after sever
al months of inactivity. As soon
as the grass begins to grow on
the hillsides, the bears can be
found nibbling away, in that the
grass is young and tender on the
southern slopes. Just below the
snowline they may be seen brows
ing and digging roots in the early
morning hours and also in the
afternoons, after they have had
their daily nap, and they may
then be stalked with comparative
ease if the wind is favorable. The
mating season now begins and
the male bear will cover con
siderable territory in a day’s
travel and keep on going until
'hfetfmds his mate. When a male
finds his mate the pair will sel
dom move mote than 500 yards
away for several days but con
tinue to feed in that particular
locality until the mating season
is over, unless disturbed by
hunters.
The bear is the roadmaker of
Alaska, and not only are the
swampy plains intersected with
paths made by him in all direc
tions, leading generally to the
easiest fording places on streams
and rivers but the hills and rid
ges of mountains to the very top
show the trails of this omnipre
sent traveler. On Kodiak Island,
particularly, the hills above the
salmon streams are like a giant
checkerboard with the well-trod
den trails of these huge beasts.
In June the great schools of
salmon begin to enter the
streams and rivers on their way
to the great spawning grounds
at the head of the inland lakes.
Here Mr. Kodiak feeds to his
heart’s content and accumulates
enough surplus fat to keep him
in good shape during hiberna
tion. That is not. all he gathers
from his raw fish diet because it
also gives him a lot of tape
worms which Nature again re
moves with remarkable efficiency
(continued on page 8)
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