CHAPTER X

THE BLACK BEAR

THE common bear of this continent is called the black
bear, because black is the usual colour, and probably
that is what nature intended them to be. Nevertheless
many of them are by no means black, and you are liable
to find them with all sorts of coloured coats. I have seen
skins of the following shades: white, cream, cream with
orange on the back, grey, grey with yellowish patches,
all shades of brown, several shades of dull red, and a few
with the bluish grey coat that some greyhounds have.
These latter are supposed to be one of the fifty-odd species,
and are known as the Glacier bear that it is said to be
only found away north in Alaska near Mt. McKinley,
though the most perfect specimen I ever saw was killed
within forty miles of Vancouver.

The extraordinary variation in the eolour of the black
bear’s coat is due to the fact that, for some reason of
which I have never been able to get a satisfactory explana-
tion, the pigment which colours the hair is most susceptible
to change, or perhaps it should be said to deterioration.
Whether this change is due to food or climatic influences
or is due to breeding is doubtful, though it may be a
combination of them all, as in some parts of the country
you will find greater variation in colour than in others.
A curious thing is that on Vancouver Island the bear all
seem to be uniformly black.

As a sporting animal the black bear is by no means to
be despised; in fact, during my thirty-odd years’ sport
in this country the humble black bear has furnished me
with some of my most exciting memories. Perhaps this
is because many of my first experiences in sport were with

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