Southern world : journal of industry for the farm, home and workshop. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1882-18??, June 15, 1882, Image 7
THE SOUTHERN WORLD, JUNE 16, 1882.
7
THE l'OI.AK BEAR.
MV. J. G. WOOD.
There is generally an aquatic member of
each group of animals throughout the ver
tebrate kingdom, and among the bears this
part is filled by the Nennook, or Polar Bear,
sometimes called, on account of its beau
tifully silvery fur, the White Bear. All the
bears are good swimmers, and are able to
cross channels of considerable width, but we
have, in the person of the Nennook, an ani
mal that is especially formed for traversing
the waters and for passing its existence
among the ice mountains of the northern
regions.
So active is this bear, and so admirable
are its powers of aquatic locomotion, that it
has been seen to plunge into the water in
chase of a salmon and to return to the sur
face with the captured fish in its mouth.
And when it is engaged in the pursuit of
seals, as they are lying sleeping on a rock or
ice raft, it is said to employ a very ingenious
assumes a milder character in tho southern
climes, and contents itself with vegetable al
iment. In captivity it has been fed for a
considerable time on bread alone, of which
it consumes about six pounds a day. Even
in its wild state, It is in the habit of varying
its food by sundry roots and berries, and is
often found engaged in searching for these
dainties at some distance from the sea shore.
Even at a considerable distance and by
means of the bare outline, the Polar Bear
may be distinguished from every other
member of the bear tribe by its peculiar
shape. The neck, although extremely pow
erful, is very long in proportion to the re
mainder of the body, and the head is so
small and sharp that there is a very snake
like aspectabout that portion of the animal’s
person.
The shape of the head is rather remarkable;
for whereas in the brown and other bears,
the muzzle is separated from the forehead
by a well marked depression, in the Polar
Bear the line from the forehead to the nose is
has often been discredited, and it has been
said to make a partial migration southwards
as soon as the terrible frosts of the arctic
winter close up the pools whereto the seals
and other animals which constitute its prey
are in the habitof resorting. Other writers,
again, assert that the Polar Bear ceases feed
ing in the winter, as do the other members
of the same group, and that the young Nen-
nooks are produced while the mother is
safely housed in her den. There is a truth in
both these opinions, for it is now ascertained
that the female Polar Bear is in the habit of
hybernating, but the male Nennook passes
his winter in the active exercise of his fac
ulties.
The winter home of the Polar Bear is al
ways m ide in some sheltered situation, such
as the cleft of a rock, or the foot of a. precip
itous bank. In a very short time after the
animal has taken up her residence in her
new abode she is effectually concealed from
observation by the heavy snow drifts which
cover the whole country with such strangely
dltion. Their mother, however, is sadly re
duced by her long fast and the calls which
have been made upon her by her offspring,
so that she re-enters the world in a very
l>oor condition of aspect and temper, as
might be expected of so ravenous and hun
gry an animal. Watchful over the safety of
her cubs, and unburdened by any superllu-
ous flesh, she is a very dangerous person to
be casually met with; for she is so savage
with hunger, that her temper is in a con
stant state of irritation; and she is so jealous
of the safety of her offspring that she sus
pects every moving object to be an enemy.
The flesh of tho Polar Bear is eatable and is
highly esteemed by the arctic voyagers, who
eagerly welcome a supply of fresh and
wholesome meat, such as is furnished by the
animat in question. It Is said, however,
that the liver ought to be avoided as an arti
cle of diet, as it is apt to cause painful and
even dangerous symptoms to those who have
partaken of it. Yet the liver of the Ameri
can black bear is said to beapeculiar luxury
THE POIiAlt BEAR.
mode of approach. Marking the position in
which its intended prey lies, it quietly slips
into the water and diving below the surface,
swims in the intended direction until it is
forced to return to the surface in order to
breathe. As soon as it has filled its lungs
with fresh air, it again submerges itself and
renews its course, timeing its submarine
journeys so well, that when it ascends to the
surface for the last time, it is in close prox
imity to the slumbering seal. The fate of
the unfortunate victim is now settled, for it
can not take refuge in the water without
falling into the clutches of its pursuer, and
if it endeavors to escape by land, it is speed
ily overtaken and destroyed by the swifter-
footed bear.
The endurance of the bear while engaged
in swimming is very great, for it has been
seen swimming steadily across a strait of
some forty miles in width. Even the large
and powerful walrus is said to fall a victim
to the superior powers of the Polar Bear.
Although its appetite is of so decidedly car
nivorous a nature in the northern regions, it
almost continuous. The foot of the Nennook
is of surprising comparative length, for it is
equivalent in length to one-sixth of the en
tire length of the body, whereas in the brown
bear it is but one-tenth of that measure
ment. The sole of the foot is covered with
a thick coating of warm fur, which is in all
probability intended for the double purpose
of protecting the extremities from the in
tense cold of the substance which it is formed
to traverse, and of enabling the creature to
tread firmly on the hard and slippery ice.
From this and other peculiarities of form,
it is now acknowledged as a separate species
of bear, and even removed into a diflerentge-
nus by many naturalists; although the earlier
writers on this subject supposed that it was
merely a permanent variety of the brown
beat, which had obtained a white coat by
constant exposure to the terrible cold of
these wintry regions, and whose form had
been slightly modified by the ever repeated
habits of its strange life.
As the Nennook passes its life among the
wintry regions of the north, its hybernation
shaped hills and valleys, that the bear’s den
is entirely undiscoverable by the eye. Some
times the bear will wait until a heavy fall of
snow has taken place, and then willdigaway
the snow so as to form a cavern of the re
quisite size. In all cases the snow appears
to be a necessary element in the well-being
of the animal during its long winter’s re
pose. If the female bear should not be
about to take upon herself thecares of mater
nity, she does not think herself bound to lie
hidden during the winter, but traverses the
ice fields together with the male, and be
comes very fat during the cold months of
the year. These nomad individuals do not
confine their peregrinations to the sea shore,
but extend their journeys in land to a con
siderable distance, being sometimes found as
far as thirty miles from the sea coast.
The young of the Nennook are generally
two in number, and when they make their
first appearance outside of the snow-built
nursery in which their few months of exist
ence have been passed, are about the size of
Bbepherds’ dogs, and are in excellent con*
when dressed on skewers, kabob fashion.
Its {lowers of endurance are necessarily
great, for its means of subsistence are always
precarious, and in many cases are extremely
small indeed. As the bear is in the habit of
passing so much time upon the ice, and gen
erally devours upon its frozen surface the
prey which has been captured, it Is liablo to
be affected by the sudden and extraordinary
changes that are constantly taking place in
the vast ice fields of these cold regions.
Pieces of ice on which the bears are quietly
sleeping after their repast, become noiseless
ly dissevered from the main body and are
carried off to sea for a very great distance
before tho bear is aware of its enforced voy
age. Scoresby records suck an instance,
where he met with a Polar Bear upon a piece
of drift ice that was floating at sea some two
hundred miles distant from land. As the
ice nourishes no animals that could afford
nutriment to the white coated resident, the
bear is forced to depend for its entire subsis
tence upon the fish that it may l>e able to
capture.—Growing World,