Image source: www.etsy.com
It may be hot outside now, but soon enough black bears will be entering their annual hibernating ritual. This brief BBC clip is worth watching (and learning from) over a tall glass of iced tea or lemonade. In the meantime, if you see bears and their offspring while you are out and about during summer vacation, send along any photos you take. The Doctor will post the best ones and the winner of the photo contest will get the latest, "Want to Know What's New in Comparative Physiology?" t-shirt.
To get things started:
Here is a photo showing how one bear is spending its summer vacation...who could blame it?
To watch a video of the bear playing with the hammock,
click here.
More like this
I have pointed to the fact that mtDNA genetics has suggested that the polar bear is actually a derived lineage of brown bears.
This is from Seabeck, Washington, across the water from Seattle.
I read an interesting article in the Alaska Dispatch News which examined interactions between arctic grizzly bears and polar bears. They found that although polar bears are larger, they tend to leave food sources when grizzly bears are around.
From here: "Cronin et al.
The BBC video is great. I never knew that grizzly bears will eat black bears.