. Brehm's Life of animals : a complete natural history for popular home instruction and for the use of schools. Mammals; Animal behavior. 202 THE BEASTS OF PREY. The Sloth Bears' The food of the Sloth Bear consists Food and How almost exclusively of vegetable sub- They Get It. stances and smaller animals, espe- cially invertebrates, and he is said to eat eggs and small birds only occasionally. All naturalists agree in asserting that he never attacks larger animals with a view to eating them, except that Sanderson and McMaster tell experiences where Bears had eaten part of a Stag which had been
. Brehm's Life of animals : a complete natural history for popular home instruction and for the use of schools. Mammals; Animal behavior. 202 THE BEASTS OF PREY. The Sloth Bears' The food of the Sloth Bear consists Food and How almost exclusively of vegetable sub- They Get It. stances and smaller animals, espe- cially invertebrates, and he is said to eat eggs and small birds only occasionally. All naturalists agree in asserting that he never attacks larger animals with a view to eating them, except that Sanderson and McMaster tell experiences where Bears had eaten part of a Stag which had been shot, and another time of an Ox killed by a Tiger. Cubs reared in captivity willingly eat raw and cooked meat, however. Various roots and fruits of all kinds, the much prized pulpy buds of the Mohra tree or broad-leaved Bassia, Bees' nests, of which the combs and grubs taste as sweet as the honey to him, Cater- pillars, Snails and Ants form his principal sustenance, and his long curved claws are of great service to him in searching for and digging out hidden roots or excavating Ant-hills. He even destroys the wonder- fully built fastnesses of the White Ants and in such mammals, including Man, in the most cruel way, before eating them. He is said to hug his victims close with his arms and claws and then to break their limbs one after another deliberately and while constantly sucking them with his lips. As a rule he avoids Man; but his slowness not infrequently pre- vents his flight and then, either from fear or with the instinct of self-preservation, he assumes the offen- sive. His attacks become so dangerous under these circumstances that the Cingalese consider him the most terrible of animals. Sanderson writes: "Sloth Bears are not harmless to unarmed people. Wood cutters and other people who follow their vocation in the forest and the jungle often fare very badly in their encounters with these Bears. Like all wild animals they are most dangerous when surprised, for then
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectmammals, bookyear1895
