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Amazing Facts

India brotherbear Offline
Grizzly Enthusiast
#1
( This post was last modified: 01-27-2016, 05:24 PM by brotherbear )

tell everyone about those amazing facts about your favorite animals. 
 
Amazing facts about the Grizzly, some recently learned:

http://www.all-creatures.org/bear/b-bearintel.html

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/arctic-be...gence/779/

#1 - Bears possess the largest and most convoluted brains relative to their size of any land mammal. In the animal kingdom, their intelligence compares with that of higher primates.

http://sectionhiker.com/bears_sense_of_smell/

#2 - Bears are thought to have the best sense of smell of any animal on earth. For example, the average dog's sense of smell is 100 times better than a humans. A blood hound's sense of smell is 300 times better. A bear's sense of smell is 7 times better than a blood hounds or 2,100 times better than a humans.

http://shaggygod.proboards.com/thread/11...rful-force

#3 - Quote: It seems that carpal bone have a high resistance to mechanical deformation. Grizzly bear front paws are surprisingly heavy due to massive carpal bones?
In my own words: The grizzly's ability to deliver a powerful paw strike is undeniable.

http://wildfact.com/forum/attachment.php?aid=207

In conclusion, no significant evidence provided any leads towards increased muscle strength deterioration or muscle mass deterioration in post­prime brown bears, yet evidence had been found of increased muscle volume deterioration in post­prime brown bears as. The brown bears who were experimented on were shortly released back into their respective locations within Yellowstone National Park after the study commenced. These findings suggest that brown bears, if not all bear species as a whole, are able to retain their muscle mass and maximum muscle strength well past their prime years, unlike most other animals.
The muscle mass of the three year old bear was relatively low due to its low total weight, and the muscle mass of the oldest specimen concurred with the relatively high amounts of Ib fibres: the densest muscle fibres discovered in mammalian and reptilian bodies so far.
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India brotherbear Offline
Grizzly Enthusiast
#2
( This post was last modified: 01-28-2016, 06:52 AM by brotherbear )

The Medicine Bear. Zoopharmacognosy is a relatively new science. It is the study of highly intelligent animals that treat themselves by the use of specific herbs to treat specific illnesses. For this reason the Medicine Bear is a part of the American Indian culture. The great apes are also known to treat themselves thus. We talk a lot about the size and the awesome strength of bears. They are also highly intelligent carnivores. Rudyard Kipling made the right choice when he chose Baloo the bear as Mowgli's teacher.

Bear-ology by Sylvia Dolson - The Science of Zoopharmacognosy.
According to researchers in the relatively new science of zoopharmacognosy ( animal use of medicinal plants to treat illness ), several species of animals are known to seek out plants that have known medicinal properties.
Many of us witness this with our own pets - dogs and cats eat grass to aid with digestion. Some monkeys in Brazil eat a fruit that may function as a fertility drug. Birds do "anting" - the rubbing of live ants on their feathers, presumably relying on the insects' defensive secretions as natural fungicides or insecticides. Rats that eat clay can survive an otherwise lethal dose of pesticides. And chimpanzees seek out plants that act as treatments for intestinal parasites.

Bear-ology by Sylvia Dolson - The Bear as a Healer.

In many aboriginal cultures, the bear was revered as a great healer because the bear knew the secrets of the plants. Often portrayed as the plant gatherer in many Native myths, the bear is seen as a mysterious herbalist gathering medicines straight from nature's pharmacy. Even the names of many North American wild plants, such as bear's tongue, bear's wort, bear's tail, bear's paw, bear clover, bear's ear, bear's breech, bear moss, bear corn, bear bane, and bearberry reflect the bear's widespread association with medicine and healing.

North American black bears and grizzlies are known to dig up Ligusticum porteri ( also known, not surprisingly as bear root or osha ), chew the root into a mash and rub the paste through their fur. As they do so, they go into a catnip-like frenzy, often growing calmer after a session with the root. Bear root is very effective as an antiviral and antipeptic ( digestive aid ), and is known to have antibiotic properties - making it an effective treatment for stomach aches and bacterial infections. It may also offer bears relief from fleas, ticks, and even fungus conditions. As an all-around pain-killer, humans use this medicinal plant for rheumatism, arthritis, and sore muscles. It's also been discovered that there are steroids, cardiac glycocides, and coumarins within the bear root plant - a group of important natural compounds that have been found to have numerous healing properties.

Bears often rub on resinous trees such as pine. They seem to love utility poles freshly painted with creosote. Their preference for these smelly substances may be related to the immediate relief of itching from biting flies and ectoparasites ( parasites that live outside the body ). The resins impair the health of mites, lice and ticks, repel biting insects, and are anti-microbial, helping heal bacterial and fungal infections. Or, the bear may just be scratching an itch or leaving his mark.

Bears may even rid themselves of tapeworm and intestinal parasites by eating a rough fibrous sedge ( Carex spp ) before going into hibernation.

Like many other mammals and birds, bears consume clay - a practice known as geophagy. Clay-licking may help bears feel better when infested with intestinal worms or poisoned by natural dietary toxins.

Bears sometimes chew on ash, perhaps to settle their stomachs. The largest volcanic eruption in the twentieth century occurred in Katmai National Park in Alaska. Much of the park soil is volcanic ash and the bears eat this ash - it's a natural form of antacid. This makes a lot of sense, given that meat/fish and nuts ( at times the bulk of the bear's diet )are highly acidic foods. The ash also helps to get rid of parasites in the digestive tract. ( Jessica Teel; http://www.grizzlybay,org ).
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peter Offline
Co-owner of Wildfact
*****
Moderators
#3
( This post was last modified: 08-23-2018, 06:12 AM by peter )

THE CASE OF THE 12 MONKEYS 

When talking about 'unexplained phenomena', many think of unindentified flying objects and things like that. Interesting stuff, but there's no need to leave our planet to find and discuss phenomena outside our range of vision. In this thread, you can post information about unexplained phenomena in which animals feature. Animals, not humans. 

In the days of the British Raj, hunters saw things they had never seen before. The books they published often met with sceptical reviews, but many of the events they witnessed were later confirmed by biologists.

In Africa, leopards interested in baboons developed a strategy that paid. Some specialists still use psychological warfare to create confusion. Lions interested in cattle protected by a 'kraal' also use psychological warfare to create confusion.

Roaring no doubt has an effect. Some animals seem almost paralysed when a big cat roars when attacking. Animals, like humans, can die of fear, but 12 monkeys dying of a heart attack at the same time in the same place? Seems a bit over the top. But it happened and an autopsy confirmed the cause of death:        

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4873024/Twelve-monkeys-die-heart-attacks.html
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United Kingdom Spalea Offline
Wildanimal Lover
******
#4

@peter:

About #1: I believed that roaring would effectively have an effect toward domestic animals (for example in the case of the domestic cattle paralysed by lions' roaring you quoted and during the ancient times of the Africa colonization, numerous accounts produced by settlers) but not toward wild animals.

However, I have always quoted that the leopards using this strategy in order to attack some baboons also take advantage of the night. The fact is the baboons much more fear the leopard at night than during the day.

The Dailymail doesn't precize if the simultaneous 12 monkeys' death caused by the tiger's roar occured at night. It would be interesting to know it.

The fact is: when a tiger in marauding into the India jungle he is constantly followed by the monkeys' crys and screams which report his presence. Perhaps, in this case indicated by the Dailymail, during the night the monkeys being this time unaware of the tiger's presence were suddenly suprised by the roaring which, so, shocked them to death.

Personal hypothesis...
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United Kingdom Sully Offline
Ecology & Rewilding
*****
#5

Would not be surprised 



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