Russian Brown Bears

[brotherbear]

Pestuns are cubs of the previous year. Usually a pestun is a single cub, most often a female; a male cub is allowed to stay as a pestun only if the mother bear gave birth to two male cubs. The duty of pestuns is to look after the younger cubs, in the way a nanny cares for babies. One trustworthy hunter, a Tungus, told me that he saw a pestun carry young cubs across the Kashkolik River ( near Fort Kozak at the Chinese border ); the total number of cubs was three. He carried one cub, and the mother carried another. The pestun did not go back to pick up the third cub, and the mother gave him a few slaps for that! Rarely, an old pestun, one born three years before, remains with the mother; locals would call him a tretyak. This happens when the mother remained infertile, and did not give birth to new cubs. Most often, the mother bear drives the tretyaks away as soon as her new cubs are born, leaving only the past year's cubs ( lonchaks ), and most often with only one of them, who chases away the rest with the tretyaks. These lonchaks become real pestuns.

By fall, the cubs become considerably bigger, reaching the size of a big village dog, and can defend themselves. I should point out that cubs, when they climb a tree after being frightened, always take a position on the branches of one side of the tree. If they have to be shot, one must shoot the lower one first. Otherwise the upper cub, in falling, will hit the lower one, which will then fall too and run away. "A beast is a beast" as promyshlenniks say. Indeed, if you have to carry a bear cub on horseback, his legs must be tied, because he will always try to reach the horse with his paw or at least with one claw. Then, even the best promyshlennyi horse will try to throw its rider. Most of the time, the mother bear walks in front, her cubs walk behind her and the pestun walks last, like a chaperon with a noble lady.

If a cub somehow gets into a past ( gap ) trap or into a pit that has been dug for other animals, the mother does not try to get him out at once. Usually, she lays nearby waiting for the owner of the trap, and remains there for several days in a row. In some cases, the mother will take her cub out of a pit, if it is not too deep, and will then cruelly punish him for getting there. However, she cannot free him from a past trap, because she does not know how to lift a fallen log. Therefore, she attempts to pull him away with her claws, which only increases his suffering or kills him. When she realizes her cub is dead, she covers him and the trap with branches, sticks, moss, etc. This is why in spring, in forests inhabited by bears, you must carry a gun while checking your traps. Otherwise you may pay with your life for this mistake, because a mother bear will attack suddenly from ambush. I remember plenty of cases like this. Local promyshlenniks go to check their traps without guns, carrying only an ax or a knife. Even fatal accidents do not make a lazy Siberian more careful! ... Reply