Bear Strength

[brotherbear]

Testing the strength of an animal is certainly not an exact science. For one thing, how do you get an animal to "give it his all" ? I remember watching, as can still likely be found on video, the strength test for a grizzly which easily pushed over a dumpster. This bear was never angry or eager nor showing any emotions which might trigger his full exertions. Such tests tell us very little.
The true test is when a grizzly drags the carcass of a bison some distance or, as I have seen on a documentary, a grizzly pulls the water-logged carcass of a bison out of a riverbank, which had not survived the winter. There was a "drop-off" at the edge meaning that the carcass had to be pulled uphill. Or a grizzly excavating a hole deep enough to bury a carcass or to dig a den. Grizzlies have been observed dragging the carcass of a steer, a horse, or an elk up the steep side of a mountain. Grizzlies have been known to tear into the side of log cabins or through sliding steel garage doors. The push-strength of a grizzly is greater than his pull-strength. There is no denying the strength of a bear.   Reply