Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 243, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 October 1914 — BEAR QUEERLY BUILT [ARTICLE]

BEAR QUEERLY BUILT

EXPERT TELLS ABOUT BTRUO TURE OP THE ANIMAL. Nature Evidently Had Distinct Idea In Mind When It Produced Bruin In Such a Radical Form. "I was long curious to know,” said a Pike county, Pennsylvania, beat expert, “why it was that the bear has that peculiarly clumsy and apparently painful gait, but I never found any one who could give me a satisfactory explanation of It, so I went out and killed a bear to find out for myselfi The reason was a very simple one. “I found, in the first place, that the bear has no clavicles in the shoulder to keep the shoulder bones steadily apart, as is usual In animals, and consequently when the bear moves hie forelegs the shoulder blades work or slide loosely on the sides. “Then, again, the bear has the ankle joints of his hind legs plumb on the ground, or rather as parts of the hind feet That peculiar structure gives the first joint of the hind ‘legs a bend in the opposite direction from that which it has in the legs of other animals. “This loose and queer rigging of the joints of the legs and shoulders of tbs bear gives him that odd wabble or shuffle with which he makes his way along, although clumsy and retarding as that gait appears, it can produce • speed and agility on occasion that is surprising. The broad base which the foot of the bear forms, moreover, gives the animal a steady and secure footing, no matter what the appearance may be to the contrary. “The unique position of the hind ankle Jofhts as to the formation of the hind feet is what enables the bear to rise to his feet with such facility, and to nialntain a secure position standing erect, while he uses his forepaws in grasping or striking with his wellknown readiness and effectiveness. "The absence of clavicles in the shoulders Is what gives the bear tbs great hugging or compressing power in bis forelegs, which is of the great-, est service to him in climbing and ini dealing with his foes. In fact, if he had the shoulder formation characteristic of other animals he could not climb a tree at all, for he could not accomplish it by his claws as the cat and squirrel and raccoon and other animals of arboreal habit do, nor would the bear dog need to stand in fear of that terrible embrace of his.”