Wednesday, November 07, 2007

The Bear Facts #1




The next few posts will amaze and enthrall you if you are interested in any of the bear facts . On weekends , a few of my dog walking neighbors and I meet in a wooded clearing near the Mattagami River to let our dogs interact . One of the dog owners works for the Ministry of Natural Resources . One morning we got into a discussion about bears and how they are able to hibernate all winter long . The fact these huge mammals can sleep for months without needing nourishment has always fascinated me . Looking at the blowing snow outside , I sometimes wish that I could do that , but would I wake up twice as old or half as young ? Back to the facts , Glen had some very interesting bear stories to relate to the dog club and was kind enough to email me a few REAL pictures that I am sure will interest you as it did me .
In June , as we all know , bears are exceedingly hungry . You would be too if you had slept for six months without food or water . It is too early for berry season so the little black gremlins sniff their way around until something smells good to the palate . The very REAL photographs will help you to understand why the MNR warns northerners not to feed the birds in the summertime , to make sure our garbage is safely secured , and that we clean our barbecues after each usage . In fact , these particular pictures were kept from the public by the MNR for a time so that people would not panic . It was released to the media when the officials thought it best that it was better to keep the public aware of the possibilities that this could happen to you . This incident of the black bear climbing to the second story balcony of a home took place in South Porcupine early in this summer . Now that I have your undivided attention , ( humor me if I don't ) , I will leave you with this bear cliffhanger (or should I say balcony hanger ) for today and return tomorrow same time same blog with the bear facts #2 including REAL pictures .
All BEAR . All REAL .

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Other than the fur, will all the bears be bare? If so, does that qualify as porn, Mother Nature style?

Inquiring minds want to know.

Maria said...

are you kidding me?

Remind me to NEVER, EVER move to South Porcupine.

JB said...

When I first looked at the middle picture, I thought, "How nice! That bear's helping put up the Christmas lights!"
...very neighbourly.

;-)

Cheryl (a.k.a Sherri, and vice-versa) said...

Holy frickin' crap. I don't remember them ever being THAT bold. Hope the new Torontonian Minister of Natural Resources gets to see that one!

Anonymous said...

Never had that problem in the old days as the oldtimers were very good at solving that type of problem . Who is more important your family or wildlife. Now the bear population is booming and it is only a matter of time before a tragic happenstance .Relocating doesn't work . the ministry already knows that they have relocated up to 300 km and the bear came back . If it was happening down south attitudes of the ministry would be changed fast
Cornwall guy

Ma Horton said...

You could be right on that one...having had my own bear experiences up close and personal I can tell you that you remember nothing the MNR tells you to do in a bear encounter . In one word ..panic .

Anonymous said...

Well, Ma, are you going to share more pics? I can't BEAR to wait. The suspense is unBEARable.

Okay, not so funny, but I'm just warming up. I've only been up for an hour, still coming out of hibernation.