THE SLOTH BEAR.[147]
This curious and ungainly-looking beast is another of the Indian Bears, being found “throughout India and Ceylon, from Cape Comorin to the Ganges.” It is distinguished by its extremely awkward shape, its long shaggy hair, its prolonged and very flexible snout and lower lip, all of which peculiarities combine to give it a remarkable and anything but prepossessing appearance. The fur is mostly black, the muzzle and the tips of the feet being of a dirty white or yellowish colour, and the breast ornamented with a V-shaped or crescentic mark. It attains a length of between five and six feet.
The Sloth Bear feeds on Ants, honey, fruit, &c. “The power of suction in the Bear, as well as of propelling wind from its mouth, is very great. It is by this means enabled to procure its common food of white Ants and larvæ with ease. On arriving at an Ant-hill, the Bear scrapes away with the fore feet until he reaches the large combs at the bottom of the galleries. He then, with violent puffs, dissipates the dust and crumbled particles of the nest, and sucks out the inhabitants of the comb by such forcible inhalations as to be heard at two hundred yards’ distance or more. Large larvæ are in this way sucked out from great depths under the soil. When Bears abound their vicinity may be readily known by numbers of these uprooted Ants’ nests and excavations, in which the marks of their claws are plainly visible. They occasionally rob birds’ nests, and devour the eggs.”[148]
The capture of Ants is, however, by no means always devoid of inconvenient consequences for the ursine ravisher. The insects are as brave and ferocious as they are industrious, and their strong sharp mandibles are capable of making a considerable impression upon the snout, lips, and eyelids of their huge enemy.
SLOTH BEAR.
SLOTH BEAR.
Like the Sun Bear, the Sloth Bear rarely attacks man unless provoked, but, like it, is, when attacked, a most dangerous antagonist, always making for the face, and especially the eyes. Both in Ceylon and in India the natives have a very wholesome dread of the animal, and, indeed, fear his onslaught more than that of any other beast. “Among the Singhalese there is a belief that certain charms are efficacious in protecting them from the violence of Bears, and those whose avocations expose them to encounters of this kind are accustomed to carry a talisman, either attached to their neck or enveloped in the folds of their luxuriant hair. A friend of mine, writing of an adventure which occurred at Anarajapoora, thus describes an occasion on which a Moorman, who attended him, was somewhat rudely disabused of his belief in the efficacy of charms upon Bears:—‘Desiring to change the position of a herd of Deer, the Moorman (with his charm) was sent across some swampy land to disturb them. As he was proceeding, we saw him suddenly turn from an old tree and run back with all speed, his hair becoming unfastened, and, like his clothes, streaming in the wind. It soon became evident that he was flying from a terrific object, for he had thrown down his gun, and, in his panic, he was taking the shortest line towards us, which lay across a swamp covered with sedge and rushes, that greatly impeded his progress, and prevented us approaching him or seeing what was the cause of his flight. Missing his steps from one hard spot to another, he repeatedly fell into the water, but he rose and resumed his flight. I advanced as far as the sods would bear my weight, but to go further was impracticable. Just within ball range there was an open space, and as the man gained it, I saw that he was pursued by a Bear and two cubs. As the person of the fugitive covered the Bear, it was impossible to firewithout risk. At last he fell exhausted, and the Bear being close upon him, I discharged both barrels. The first broke the Bear’s shoulder; but this only made her more savage, and rising on her hind legs, she advanced with ferocious growls, when the second barrel—though I do not think it took effect—served to frighten her, for turning round she retreated, followed by her cubs. Some natives then waded through the mud to the Moorman, who was just exhausted, and would have been drowned but that he fell with his head upon a tuft of grass. The poor man was unable to speak, and for several weeks his intellect seemed confused. The adventure sufficed to satisfy him that he could not again depend upon a charm to protect him from Bears, though he always insisted that but for its having fallen from his hair, where he had fastened it under his turban, the Bear would not have ventured to attack him.’”[149]
One of the most comical and grotesque of all the Bear family is the Spectacled Bear, which derives its chief attraction from the light-coloured rings round its eyes; these—the greater part of the face being, like the body, black—have exactly the appearance of a pair of common “goggles,” through which the beast seems to look with an air of mingled wisdom and imbecility. Hence, of course, we get the animal’s English popular name.
The Spectacled Bear occurs only in South America, where it is found in the mountainous regions of Chili. It attains a length of about three feet and a half.