Bear Strength

[Polar]

(06-02-2016, 04:37 AM)Pckts Wrote: Yes he is definitely nervous as well, but he certainly is putting quite a bit of effort into it and its not like the moose is being taken away like they would do with a calf, it is being dragged a small amount at a time. Which if he is nervous, he would want to take this prey to cover immediately so the need for a quick escape with prey in tow would be ideal.

Agreed with the first part of your statement about the nervousness. But there is also an added factor: prey dominance.

As Peter said on an AvA forum, predators love to take their time to secure their meal from other "big-looking" animals (like us), so they'll drag the carcass little by little while noticing our presence simultaneously in order to see our reaction, in case that we (the bear assuming that we are predators) attempt to steal its kill.

If a predator just continues to pull the carcass whilst ignoring the possible opportunists beside it, guess what the opportunistic predators will do? Depending on species, either ambush or head-first attack the defending predator for the carcass. This is another reason why the bear pulled the carcass with its spine arched up, its body lowered to the ground, and mainly with its jaws. It is hard to pull from that postiion, yet it lets the opportunist predator know its there and ready to intimidate in case.

However, if the predator violently shrugs, makes silent, yet jittery body language, and pauses while dragging, the opportunistic predators will more than likely reconsider trying to steal the kill.

This situation is kind of similar to when one stares at a person eating: the person (at least for me) will usually eat little-by-little and look up at instances as if to either say, "What do you want?" or "Don't you dare try to steal my food!" (the latter was more applicable during caveman times, when humans were more protective of their resources.) If no one is watching someone eat, then that hungry person will usually eat faster and with much less interruptions. Similar to the bear, the bystanders, and the moose being dragged.

It might seem, to an average person, that the bear is pulling for dear life. But in reality, the bear is over-exerting his dominance in order to instill fear in potential opportunists.

The best animal feats we see are the ones we don't witness in person, most of the time. Especially predators: they don't like to be watched doing their thing. Reply