Russian Brown Bears

[brotherbear]

In the process of copulation, they say, the female lies on her back. I heard this from hunters, who confirmed their stories by telling how bears wallowing on the ground trample grass, stems and whole bushes over a large area. They make such a mess that it is hard to believe if you did not see it for yourself. In such mating places there are always two bedding sites, side by side, with many bear droppings nearby, and also foam, which comes out of the male's mouth when the female is in heat. It happens that some blood may be seen there too, when the female is unreceptive to the male's courting. I have seen such places.

A female bear can suffer wounds caused by the claws and teeth of the male, and it sometimes happens that he kills her. One time I saw a dead female bear in the taiga. Its teats and external genitalia had been eaten. Riding on a little further, we saw a bear slowly walking ahead of us on the forest path. It was emaciated and bleeding, and it probably did not notice us, but when we came closer, it ran away into the thickets. On the next day, when I was riding back on the same path, I did not see the female bear there. We did not see any tracks but our own old ones and a fresh bear's tracks. We suppose that the male bear came back and pulled away the body of his lover at night.

After they emerge from their dens, bears find the so-called "bear root"; this is a bulb growing under rocks and on ledges and mountain slopes. Its taste is sweet, pleasant in the beginning, but then it turns repulsive. It is usually found in bear's leftovers. Locally, it is consumed as a healing remedy against many illnesses. After one has eaten this, he feels relaxed and light, like after a good hot bath, or as though he had been freed from a heavy load. If eaten in large amounts it causes vomiting and diarrhea. Once he has eaten these bulbs, the bear cleanses himself of everything and, most importantly, of so-called vtulk, about which I have more to say later on. The bear then goes to young aspen leaves and eats them with great gusto. Many local hunters say that when a bear eats his fill of these bulbs and leaves, he lies near his den for a few days and sleeps so well that one can come up very close to him without any danger and, as they say, "grab him by his ears." Orochons also say that at this time bears also eat rotten wood, which they get out of old deadfalls. Then the bear forages on blue flowers ( Pulsatilla ) and eats them in large quantities, even running quickly to where he sees the next flower. As a result, he purges himself again, and worms emerge in his nose! ( This is a very dubious statement, according to comments in the end of the book ). This is the worst season for the bear, since at this time he starts shedding and cannot smell anything. It is easy to shoot a bear at this time, but the skin is not valuable. It is good only to make polovinki ( chamois ). After foraging on Pulsatilla, the bear starts eating ants. Then berries ripen, and honey and nuts, which bears like very much. Bears also eat all kinds of meat, both fresh and carrion; they particularly like horse meat; this is their favorite food. In the summer, bears visit lakes, creeks, and swamps, searching in the grass for molting young ducks and chasing them for hours in a row. Sometimes they spend the whole night hunting like this. The bear searches for them like a dog, and crawls and leaps trying to catch them, splashing and making a great noise. One should see what the bear looks like after such hunting; he is very wet, and dirty like a scarecrow ( puzhalo-puzhaloi, as the Siberians say ). Reply