The Burgess Animal Book for ChildrenBurgess, Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo)
General
The Burgess Animal Book for Children
Burgess, Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo)
Animal behavior -- Juvenile literature; Zoology -- Juvenile literature
“He is larger than Buster and possessed of tremendous strength.
Instead of a black coat, he has a coat which varies from
yellowish-brown to almost black. The tips of the hairs usually are
lighter, giving him a frosted appearance, and this is what has given him
his name. His claws are longer and more curved than those of Buster; in
fact those claws are so big that they look very terrible. Because they
are so long, Silvertip cannot climb trees. But if they prevent him
climbing trees they are the finest kind of tools for digging out Marmots
and ground Squirrels. Even when Whistler the Marmot makes his home down
in among the rocks, he is not safe. Silvertip's strength is so great
that he can pull over and roll aside great rocks.
“He is a great traveler and covers a wide range of country in his
search for food. Sometimes he visits the Cattle ranges and kills
Cattle. So great is his strength that he can kill a Cow with ease.
Clumsy looking as he is, he is a very fast runner, and only a fast
Horse can outrun him. Like Buster, he lives on anything he can
find that is eatable. He has been so hunted by man that he has
become very cunning, and in all the great mountains where he lives
there is no one with quicker wits. At certain seasons of the year
great numbers of a fish called Salmon come up the rivers in that
country, and then Silvertip lives high. He watches beside a pool
until a Salmon swims within reach; then, with a swift movement of
one paw, he scoops the fish on to the bank. Or he finds a place
where the water is so shallow that the fish have difficulty in
getting across, and there he seizes them as they struggle up the
river. In winter he sleeps just as Buster does, usually in a
well-hidden cave.
“Mrs. Silvertip is a splendid mother. Usually the cubs, of which
as a rule there are two, remain with her until they are a year old.
Both Buster Bear and Silvertip have a queer habit of standing up
against a tree and biting it as high up as they can reach. The
next Bear who comes along that way sees the mark and makes his
own on the same tree. Silvertip knows every inch of that part of
the country in which he lives and always picks out the best way
of getting from one place to another. He is one of the finest
animals in this country, and it is a matter for sadness that his
splendid race will soon come to an end unless man makes laws to
protect him from the hunters. In very many places where he used
to be found he lives no longer.
“Silvertip is not so good-natured as Buster, but all he asks is
to be left alone. Of course when he turns Cattle killer he is
getting into the worst possible kind of mischief and man cannot
be blamed for hunting him. But it is only now and then that one
of Silvertip's family turns Cattle killer. The others do no harm.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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