Cub

“ Worrying her plumy tail and tobogganing from her back seemed to be favorite pastimes with two of the cubs. Silver Spot had a mind of his own and would sometimes wander alone to the edge of the clearing, his attitude expressing intense interest in the world beyond. He never went farther, however, for his mother, apparently engrossed in the play of the others, would suddenly raise her head and look intently at the big cub, who would at once return to the family circle. The Hermit could but wonder at the perfect understanding which needed no sound audible to human ears. ”

“ Now a cub, poking his nose industriously into every cranny and under every thick bush, would find a great roll of down plucked from the mother bird's breast, and scraping the top off carefully with his paw, would find five or six large pale-green eggs, which he gobbled down, shells, ducklings and all, before another cub should smell the good find and caper up to share it. ”

“ The cubs tumbled over one another in the center of the circle where their mothers and fathers sat, and now and again a senior wolf would go quietly up to a cub, look at him carefully, and return to his place on noiseless feet. Sometimes a mother would push her cub far out into the moonlight, to be sure that he had not been overlooked. ”

“ She loved the cub with a certain extravagance, and gave herself up to it utterly. Even her beloved master fell into a secondary place, and his household, of which she had hitherto held herself the guardian, now seemed to her to exist merely for the benefit of this black prodigy which she imagined herself to have produced. The little one's astounding growth—for the cubs of the bear are born very small, and so must lose no time in making up arrears of stature—was an affair for which she took all credit to herself ”

“ But he was, further, the fiercest of the litter. He could make a louder rasping growl than any of them. His tiny rages were much more terrible than theirs. It was he that first learned the trick of rolling a fellow-cub over with a cunning paw-stroke. And it was he that first gripped another cub by the ear and pulled and tugged and growled through jaws tight-clenched. And certainly it was he that caused the mother the most trouble in keeping her litter from the mouth of the cave.
The fascination of the light for the grey cub increased from day to day. ”

“ One of the cubs, born with the instinct of caution, kept far away from the dangerous brink without having more than half realized that there was 158 any danger there whatever. The other cub was one of those blundering fellows, to be found among the wild kindreds no less than among the kindreds of men, who only get caution hammered into them by experience. He saw a narrow break, indeed, between the berry patch and the bare steep above,––but what was a little crevice in a position like this, where it could not amount to anything? ”

“ It was by analogy that the word was used of the young of bears, lions, and whales: and if Shakspeare in one place (Merchant of Venice, Act II. Sc. 1.) says "cubs of the she-bear," he elsewhere (Titus Andronicus, Act IV. Sc. 1.) has "bear-whelps." I further very much doubt if cub was used of boys in our poet's time. The earliest employment of it that I have seen is in Congreve, who uses "unlicked cubs," evidently alluding to young bears: and that is the sense in which cub is still used,—a sense that would not in any case apply to Viola. ”

“ His mother, coming home, growled as she smelt the wolverine's track, and bounded into the cave and licked and nozzled him with undue vehemence of affection. And the cub felt that somehow he had escaped a great hurt.
But there were other forces at work in the cub, the greatest of which was growth. Instinct and law demanded of him obedience. But growth demanded disobedience. His mother and fear impelled him to keep away from the white wall. Growth is life, and life is for ever destined to make for light. ”

“ At first I used to give cubs diluted milk, but they seem to thrive on new milk quite as well. When very young, the body covering of a cub is mouse-colour, but even at this tender age the tiny tail—hardly to be called a brush—often shows a white tip. Very young cubs must be kept warm, otherwise they are apt to chill and die suddenly. As they grow older, artificial heat may be dispensed with. Cubs open their eyes fully when about three weeks old, and at first their eyes are bluish-grey in colour. ”

“ Chief of these are the grievous losses on that day's cub hunting. My little sister and—sadder still—my dear mother were killed by the hounds. It was best they should die together, for the cub was so dependent on the vixen, and the vixen so inseparable from the cub, that I am sure they could not have lived happily apart. Our common trouble drew my surviving sister and myself closer to each other, and for a few weeks we lived together in the earth, though we went our several ways at night, and very seldom hunted in concert. ”

“ Towards the end of winter a bear cub is caught and brought into the village. If it is very small, it is suckled by an Aino woman, but should there be no woman able to suckle it, the little animal is fed from the hand or the mouth. During the day it plays about in the hut with the children and is treated with great affection. But when the cub grows big enough to pain people by hugging or scratching them, he is shut up in a strong wooden cage, where he stays generally for two or three years, fed on fish and millet porridge, till it is time for him to be killed and eaten. ”

“ It is not easy for one to believe that he ever was a cub. Of course, I know that I was, and as it was only nine years ago I ought to remember it fairly clearly. None the less, hundreds and hundreds of times I have looked at my own cubs, and said to myself: ‘Surely, I can never have been like that!’
It is not so much a mere matter of size, although it is doubtful if any young bear realizes how small he is. ”

“ They come close, dodge, and jump back; they hold one paw high and the other low; sometimes they guard the face with one arm while striking with the other. Often they strike wildly, evidently intending to miss; they bristle up, growl, and have great fun, pretending to be more in earnest and terrible than they really are.
No two boys ever had more excitement and fun swimming in a river than did two cub bears whom I once watched. These cubs raced, splashed, and pushed one another under the water. ”

“ One by one, the Cubs and their parents began to arrive for the meeting. Mr. Hatfield started it off with a little talk. First he told the boys how proud he was that Den 2 had won the swimming meet and the silver trophy which now graced a table in the Cave.
Next the Cub leader paid tribute to Dan for his coolness in the face of danger. Finally he spoke of the Cub ideals and the honor of the organization.
“A real Cub always is square,” he emphasized, smiling across the room at Jacques. “Crooked people are unfair, even to themselves. So the Cub follows the law of God and man. ”

“ “And it is I, Raksha [The Demon] , who answers. The man’s cub is mine, Lungri—mine to me! He shall not be killed. He shall live to run with the Pack and to hunt with the Pack; and in the end, look you, hunter of little naked cubs—frog-eater—fish-killer—he shall hunt thee! ”

“ The cub had never been close to a human being before, and certainly Danny had never seen a bear. They started out their acquaintance with no preconceived prejudices. The best part of it all was that they smelled delightful to each other.
One who has not studied animals cannot imagine how important this point was. Cubs, and in all likelihood babies, judge things sometimes by their taste, occasionally by their feel, often by their sound, and frequently by their appearance; but when they are really in doubt, they rely on their sense of smell. ”

“ They fared far better than the third cub, a little male, that, notwithstanding a temper almost as fiery as Brock's, was worsted in every dispute and frequently robbed of his food, and still, never owning himself beaten, persisted in drawing attention to his success whenever he happened on something fresh and toothsome. ”

“ The fascination of the light for the gray cub increased from day to day. He was perpetually departing on yard-long adventures toward the cave's entrance, and as perpetually being driven back. Only he did not know it for an entrance. He did not know anything about entrances—passages whereby one goes from one place to another place. He did not know any other place, much less of a way to get there. So to him the entrance of the cave was a wall—a wall of light. As the sun was to the outside dweller, this wall was to him the sun of his world. It attracted him as a candle attracts a moth. ”

“ You meet him as a dangerous beast; you leave him, or he leaves you, with the notion that he is the best of all natural comedians.
Here, for example, is an illuminating show of bear nature, one of a score which you uncover with surprise as you follow Mooween’s trail. When a cub finds a toothsome morsel he sweeps it instantly into his mouth, if it be small enough to swallow; but if it offers several mouthfuls, the first thing he does is to look alertly about to see where the other cubs are. ”

“ Saul Dobbs, who had been interrupted as he clipped the wings of a blue-breasted pheasant, trod angrily toward the Cubs.
In his gnarled hands he still held the beautiful bird, whose handsome red neck feathers shaded off into a long silver white tail.
“What’s the big idea?” ”

“ This little bear lost none of his native energy, alertness, and versatility under changed and unexacting condi [Pg 241] tions. The way he handled every situation was a constant surprise and delight.
Pet cubs, if gently treated, quickly accept and make the best of new environment; they become intimate and loving, in fact most intensely so. If handled kindly, the cub is willing to do everything reasonable, everything he understands one wants done. But whip or scold him, and he at once becomes stubborn and unwilling, reserved and cross. ”

“ Next she sits up awful big, and lifts up a cub and holds it to her close with both her paws, same as a person. And she rubbed her ear agin the cub, and the cub sort o' nipped her, and she cuffed the cub, and the other cub came toddlin', and away they starts rolling all three of 'em! ”

“ A friendly individual, the woman asked them about the Cub Scout organization, its aims and purpose.
Brad politely explained that Den 1 and Den 2 were included in a larger classification known as the Pack. Cub advancement, he pointed out, was based upon the completion of a set of achievements.
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“When a boy finishes Wolf requirements, he is awarded the Wolf Cub rank and badge,” Dan carried on the explanation. “As soon as a Wolf Cub is ten years old, he works to complete the Bear Cub achievements. Upon reaching his eleventh birthday and after being a Bear, he may become a Lion Cub.” ”

“ The cub howled lustily, because, although the Bruins are a spiteful folk themselves, they won’t stand spite from anybody else. So the cub squealed at the top of his voice, and when Bruineen heard her baby crying she forgot about Primrose and the Mountain! ”

“ In mornings, as soon as the sun shone warm upon the face of the bank, the mother would come forth, still sluggish from her night’s hunting, and stretch herself out luxuriously on the dry turf a few paces below the mouth of the den. Then would come the cubs, peering forth cautiously before adventuring into the great world. As the mother lay there at full length, neck and legs extended and white-furred belly turned up to the warmth, the cubs would begin by hurling themselves upon her with a chorus of shrill, baby barking. ”

“ All of a sudden a naked weakling of a human cub appears on the scene, makes sundry noises, and pokes one of the patient beasts with a cudgel, whereupon, throwing occasional glances at the human sprig out of a corner of its eye, and snatching at tufts of leaves or grass here and there on the way, the unruffled beast leisurely moves on a few paces, and that imp of a boy seems to feel that his duty as herdsman has been done. ”

“ The Ursus labiatus seldom produces more than two or three at a birth, and the young cub is extremely ugly, but immensely powerful in limbs and claws. I have seen a very young animal which held on to the inside of its basket when inverted, and although shaken with great force, nothing would dislodge its tenacious clutch ”

“ He is sometimes taken in pitfalls, but more generally when a cub, during the absence of the dam:—they may be rendered tame and docile, though, at times, subject to resume their native fierceness: their generality and mercy is not less conspicuous than their courage ”

“ Silverton would mind?”
“We’ll not cut any wood without first asking permission,” said the Cub leader to his son. “And no playful whacks at any of the bushes,” he added, glancing at Chips who was known to have an itchy hand with a belt axe. ”

“ I suspect that a male might look for a second marriage following the termination of the first. One large crippled male was successfully consorting with two females at the same time, neither female objecting to the presence of the other—in fact, both probably preferred it that way.
The cubs are born in the hibernating den in midwinter, are 8 or 9 inches long, and weigh less than 2 pounds at birth. The number of cubs in a litter ordinarily varies from one to three, two being the most frequent. ”

“ To kill a naked cub is shame. Besides, he may make better sport for you when he is grown. Baloo has spoken in his behalf Now to Baloo's word I will add one bull, and a fat one, newly killed, not half a mile from here, if ye will accept the man's cub according to the Law. ”

“ And there were easements and satisfactions. To have a full stomach, to doze lazily in the sunshine—such things were remuneration in full for his ardours and toils, while his ardours and tolls were in themselves self-remunerative. They were expressions of life, and life is always happy when it is expressing itself. So the cub had no quarrel with his hostile environment. He was very much alive, very happy, and very proud of himself. ”