Russian Brown Bears

[brotherbear]

The female bear's heat, or gonba as Siberians call it, place in the hottest days of summer, approximately at the time of Saint Peter's Day. Usually, one male courts one female. If a second male shows up at this time, there is big trouble. A savage fight will take place, and the males will fight until one of them become the victor. During the fight, hair flies, blood is spilled, and loud growling fills the air. It sometimes happens that the weaker male is killed. Then, the stronger bear will mate with the female. In some cases both bears are equally strong; then, the female makes the choice.

How much noise, screaming, and growling is heard in the forest during the bear's mating season! In how many places do they trample flowers, grass, and shrubs! Courtship usually takes place in the most impassible and hidden places, often near springs and mountain creeks where it is cooler. During this time, cubs stay away from the scene, walking with the pestun. Otherwise, they would be torn apart by the male bear. During this season, males are always looking for females, and they become very angry if their search does not bring a quick result. They often stand upright, growl, tear the dirt, and rip at bark with their paws so that that it falls down or hangs in shredded ribbons from the tree trunks. Every male tries to reach as high as possible with his claws, leaving his opponents a sign of how big and strong he is. Promyshlenniks call such intimidating bear signs zaskreby and zalaplivaniya. Indeed, a hunter easily notices such marks, which clearly indicates the possibility of meeting such a giant that he shivers to think of it.

Many local promyshlenniks insist that female bear comes into heat not every year, but every other year; this is why they call such female bears "barren." I do not know if this is true, but only retell what I have heard. During the mating season, the bear is very angry and looks like he is rabid. His eyes are dull, and he does not see very well, his tongue is out, he does not eat anything and foam comes out of his mouth ... One time, during Saint Peter's Fasting, such a bear walked onto a worker's camp near Shiliknsky Factory, in the Nerchinsk Mountain District. They were making charcoal. The workers saw the bear and ran away. When the bear heard the screams and commotion, he ran into the kuchenok and burned his feet and one side of his body. Then, one brave worker, Dmitry Kudryavtsev, who was also a ardent promyshlennik, grabbed a rifle out of the balagan and shot in the bear's direction. The bear ran downhill, where another group of workers were staying, and died there in agony near the camp. Reply