A RCTIC CIRCULA NO. I Notes on a trip in l6-foot ... - The Arctic Circle

VOL. XV No. 3 THE A<strong>RCTIC</strong> <strong>CIRCULA</strong>R
behlnd following her example. With llghtning-ltke blows of her paws
she scatters the hard upper' layer of snow, rlses on her hind legs
and drives both forelegs down with the entire welght of her body.
The den collapses and the breathtng hole ie stopped wlth snow. She
scooPs out the young f twhitecoatrr seal wlthln - almost slmultaneously
dlspatching lt.
Huntlng polar bears are not always 60 succesgful though,
because of their own mlsjudgment, alerh,ress of the seals r or obstacles,
such as great thlcloeeses of saow and ice coverlng tire seal holes or
deng .
If we look ln on the family agaln at the end of Aprll, we wlll
catch stght of one of the cubs - about the elze of e retrlever - sllding
down the drifted slde of an lceberg. The second eub appears and both
run uP agaln and sllde down on their haunches. Meanwhlle, the mother
ls polsed over a seal breathtng hole a few hundred yards away. She
Le downwind of the hole and able to watch her cube. Stretchtng out her
left paw very slowly, she strikes the rlsfurg seal and pulls l,t out on to
the lcer proceedlng to lrnmobilize lt wlth paws, claws n and snapping
teeth. The Little bears scamper towards her, and although the cubs
tug at the flippers, they eat little of the seal. In a short tlme the
adult femate has devoured most of her kill and the family departs.
Thus, durlng thelr early llfe on the pack ice, the young cubs
follow their mother closely, and are usualty attentlve durlng her
huntlng lessons. But sometimes they may become lmpatlent and
succeed ln spotllng her efforts, She ls very solicltous of her young and
aPpears to take such frustratlon philosophlcally; yet when extremely
Provoked she sends them head over heels wlth dtsciplinary swats of
her paw.
Although lactation ln adult females may contirnue fo r 2L months ,
the cubs are generally weaned by July. Before thls tlmer they have
acqulred a tagte for seal blood and fat.
By August or September, when much of the pack lce has broken
up r drlfted ashore, or melted (dependlng upon latltude and environmental
condltlons), the bears may vary their routlne by wanderlng along the
coast of an lsland or the mainland. They sntff contlnually for scent of
washed -up e eal r whale r or walrus carcas s es - regardless of the fact
that they may be Esklmo caches. At thls tlme the small cubs seem to
take pleasure in swimmlng with their mother. It ls coollng, instructlve,
and gafe - provlded they keep clos e to her shoulders. lt/hen large
3g