A Natural History for Young People: Our Animal Friends in Their Native Homes: including mammals, birds and fishesHumphreys, Phebe Westcott
History
A Natural History for Young People: Our Animal Friends in Their Native Homes: including mammals, birds and fishes
Humphreys, Phebe Westcott
Natural history -- Juvenile literature
The White Bear is terrible in its attack. Accustomed, as it is, to meet
with little or no resistance, and not even suspecting danger, it rushes
upon Man with a blind fury and determination too often fatal in their
results.
It is not an uncommon thing for White Bears to drift out to sea on
floating icebergs, when they become reduced to the most frightful
distress from hunger. Fatally confined to their icy raft, and utterly
devoid of all means of subsistence, they ultimately attack and devour
one another.
The White or Polar Bear often attains a length of nine feet. Its huge
limbs and powerful claws are developed in fitting proportion to the
massive body; and the soles of its feet are clad with hair, enabling it
to tread with safety on the slippery ice floes, where it finds a home.
Purely carnivorous in its diet, the Polar Bear subsists chiefly on the
Seals it contrives to trap by watching their breathing holes patiently
for hours, or it may be for days together. The fur is of a dirty-white
hue, inclining towards a yellowish-brown tint in the young. When the
Seals are scarce, these Bears will welcome the carcase of a Whale which
has floated beyond the recall of the whaler.
The instinct which prompts the Esquimau to feed upon a fatty diet rich
in carbon, by way of providing in his body a heat-producing basis, also
leads the Bear to choose his food in the fat and blubber of the Seals
and Walruses of his seas. Dr. Robert Brown, in his remarks in the
“Mammals of Greenland,” tells us that he has seen upwards of twenty
Polar Bears feeding on the huge inflated carcase of a Whale in Pond’s
Bay, on the western shores of Davis’s Strait.
The Polar Bear is hunted by the Esquimau chiefly by means of Dogs. Its
flesh, however, is not very desirable. In fact, some parts of the body
of the Polar Bear, such as the liver, are said to possess poisonous
qualities. Scoresby relates cases of illness, and even death, which have
followed upon eating the liver of this animal.
The “nennok,” as the Esquimau terms the Polar Bear, is unusually
regarded as a fierce and predatory animal. When irritated, or at bay,
and when pressed by hunger, this Bear, like every other animal, will
become dangerous. It does not grip or “hug” its enemy, but bites him.
THE LABIATED, OR SLOTH BEAR.
This strange specimen of the Bear family differs from all the others by
its extended lips, and a tongue of remarkable length. It is a native of
India and feeds mainly on vegetables.
The Sloth Bear is often classed with the Borean and Malay Bears, which
are natives of Malacca and the Borean Isles, and which climb trees
readily and feed chiefly on fruits. These are all alike in their desire
for vegetable diet and will not eat flesh except when forced to it, and
they are all easily tamed and soon learn numerous tricks.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account