Friday, November 09, 2007

The Bear Facts #3

I have saved the best for the beary last . To the top of the world . Who among us is not enthralled by the most majestic of all bears and one of the most feared ...the polar bear . No worries . This endangered species does not reside in Timmins but much farther north than I . Although a small northern community Cochrane about one hour away , boasts a polar habitat that has become one of the town's most popular tourist attractions and I encourage you to see the exhibit for yourself if you are ever up this way .http://www.polarbearhabitat.ca/
The polar bear does not hibernate but wanders around the snow and ice constantly on the lookout for its next meal .
Polar bears feed mostly on seals although a beluga whale can be a tasty appetizer as well . The biggest threat to the extinction of these beautiful beasts , besides you , is climate change . Losing the glaciers means losing the polar bears . Powerful swimmers with a thick coat of dense white fur makes the polar bear the king of the Arctic .
Of course for every king there is a clown . My MNR friend had a co worker stationed in Churchill who sent him the following REAL pictures of a playful and perhaps lonely and for sure, very full polar bear who just wanted to have some fun with the sled huskies at his camp . Just goes to show you that some of the biggest mammals on earth can also be some of the biggest goofs .

Thank you to Glen of the Ministry of Natural Resources for sending me these amazing photographs ( one of which is now my screen saver . )

Hope you have enjoyed my ramblings on the bear facts as much as I have enjoyed writing about them . As much as we may fear these great creatures they have just as much right to be here as we do , maybe not on our patios and balconies but to live out their lives in commune with nature . Our subdivisions have infringed on their forests and hunger being the primal instinct to survival they have become modern day pests that we dread meeting face to face .
Working together and using common sense and compassion is the answer .
All BEAR . All REAL .
We have nothing to fear but fear itself .












3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can vouch for the Polar Bear Habitat in Cochrane. It's awesome. I brought my niece there a couple summers ago. You can actually swim with the polar bears! Okay, there's a two-inch sheet of plexiglass between you and them, but it's still pretty neat and makes for great photos.
JB, give Liam and Morgan a couple of years, and they would love a visit to the habitat. Maria, your kids would get a kick out of it now.

JB said...

First, NGB - speaking of Liam and Morgan (and do they ever love animals!), we're taking them to meet some horses belonging to a friend of ours on a weekend very soon. Pictures will be posted!
Second, Ma - I saw these pictures and read this story a while ago, and I absolutely love them. Thanks for posting them here! I especially love the one where the Husky is nuzzling under the bear's chin. Awesome stuff.

Anonymous said...

In this case, shouldn't that be "We have nothing to fear but Bear itself"?