Survival Skills of Bears

[brotherbear]

The Grizzly Almanac by Robert H. Busch.

The brains of carnivores continued to show an increase in brain size, and the brains of today's carnivores are larger than those of their ancestors. And among the carnivores, grizzlies have the largest brain relative to body size of any terrestrial carnivore.
In grizzlies and other higher mammals, the outer layer of the brain, the cerebral cortex, is very large compared to the total brain volume. The cortex covers the cerebrum, the largest and most complex portion of the brain. It has crucial sensory, motor, and associative functions and thus is partly responsible for what humans call intelligence.
In grizzlies, about 45 percent of the brain is cortex. In comparison, the cortex of a mouse is only about 30 percent of total brain volume; the cortex of a chimpanzee is about 55 percent of total brain volume.
Grizzlies are generally regarded as very intelligent, capable of learning from a single experience and capable of solving simple problems.
Doug Seus, an animal trainer from Utah who has trained dozens of animals for television and feature films, is the owner of Bart, a 1,500-pound Kodiak bear. Seus says, "I train black bears, wolves, and cougars for film work too. My grizzlies and Kodiaks are the hardest to tame, but the easiest to train; generally, you only have to teach them something once' ( quoted in Chadwick, 1986 ).

Behaviorists studying animal intelligence use a number of criteria to evaluate their subjects, including the ability of the animal to learn, especially from a single experience; the ability to form concepts; and the ability to combine experiences into a single pattern, a process which humans call reasoning. The ability to benefit or learn from the experiences of others is another factor in intelligence.

Conscious thinking and self-awareness are often associated with intelligence. Lance A. Olsen of the University of Montana believes that the ability of grizzlies to find hiding spots where they can see but not be seen demonstrates a degree of conscious thinking that gores beyond pure instinct.

Because of a lack of a direct system of measuring animal intelligence, most information available on the subject is anecdotal. However, as behaviorist D.C. Dennett points out, "ethologists know how misleading and, officially, unusable anecdotes are, and yet on the other hand they are often so telling" ( quoted in Mortenson, 1987 ).

Anecdotes abound of bears using rocks to spring traps, for example, a clear demonstration of a bear's ability to learn and adapt to a situation. Author Timothy Treadwell, who spent many years watching grizzlies in southern Alaska, tells an interesting anecdote about a family of grizzlies trying to ascend a steep ridge. The big mother bear had no problem, but her cubs were struggling. The mother bear then "dug holes in the earth, which served as a ladder for her tiny spring cubs. One by one, the miniature bears ascended the homemade steps, then disappeared" ( Treadwell, 1997 ).

British Columbia grizzly biologist Bruce McLellan tells an interesting anecdote on grizzly intelligence that involves a female grizzly that was originally darted in the rear and then set free. Much later, she was caught in a foot snare. When the biologist approached, "she had dug a hole in the ground and was sitting in it in order to protect her butt from being hit by the tranquilizing dart. She had remembered the previous capture three years ago", ( quoted in Domico, 1988 ).

As Alberta bear biologist Rob Wielgus jokingly says, the average grizzly bear is "always smarter than your average grizzly bear researcher" ( quoted in Hummel, 1991 ). Reply

[brotherbear]

Man Meets Grizzly by Young and Beyers.
By common consent, the grizzly is known as an aristocrat among animals, as much the monarch of North America as the lion is of Africa and the tiger is of Asia. He is not only the most powerful of our wild animals but also the most intelligent, and is so esteemed by three men most capable of judging him, namely, Dr. W.T. Hornaday, Enos Mills, and W,H. Wright. These authorities paid tribute to his intelligence by citing his cunning, his prowess, his adaptability to his surroundings, his choice of foods, his woodcraft, his sensibilities, his strategy of outwitting hunters, and the development of his senses, especially those of smell and hearing. Dr. Hornaday said that except for the monkey or ape, the grizzly's facial expression and general adaptability of head and body, which it uses to express its thoughts, exceed that of all other animals. Enos Mills admired the alertness of this animal, whose nose enabled it to outwit its enemies until the repeating, long-range rifle came into use. W,H. Wright, probably the greatest of the bear hunters, had a special .45 - .90 repeating rifle made for his bear hunting. He said that trailing the grizzly bear is a great challenge, one of the most difficult and demanding, for not only is the grizzly phenomenally quick to catch every sound, and not only is his sense of smell amazingly developed, but he is also unusually cunning in guarding himself against danger from the rear. Enos Mills supports this view, noting that the bear has the skill, audacity, and speed to slip around and follow interestedly along behind the individual who is trailing him. Reply

[brotherbear]

The Grizzly by Enos A. Mills.

I would give the grizzly first place in the animal world for brain power. He is superior in mentality to the horse, the dog, and even the gray wolf. Instinct the grizzly has, but he also has the ability to reason. His ever-alert, amazingly developed senses are constantly supplying his brain with information - information which he uses, and uses intelligently. His powers of scent are exquisite. His ears hear faint sounds; they are continually on scout and sentinel duty. Wireless messages from long distances which his senses pick up are accurately received and their place of origin correctly determined.

The grizzly appears to guide his daily life with plan and forethought. He has the genius for taking pains. He is constantly alert and meets emergencies with brains. The following actions have impressed me with his keen mental processes. Reply

[brotherbear]

The Grizzly by Enos A. Mills.

ONE autumn day, while I was watching a little cony stacking hay for the winter, a clinking and rattling of slide rock caught my attention. On the mountain-side opposite me, perhaps a hundred yards away, a grizzly bear was digging in an enormous rock-slide. He worked energetically. Several slabs of rock were hurled out of the hole and tossed down the mountain-side. Stones were thrown right and left. I could not make out what he was after, but it is likely that he was digging for a woodchuck.

After a short time only his shoulders showed above the scattered slide rock as he stood erect. Then he began piling the stones upon the edge of his deepening hole. The slope was steep and the stones had to be placed with care to prevent their tumbling back. After lifting into place one huge slab, he stood and looked at it for an instant and then slightly changed his position. On top of this stone he piled another large one, eyed it closely, shook it to see if it was solid, and finally shifted it a trifle. Had he not been wearing a grizzly-bear coat, it would have been easy to believe that a powerful, careful, thoughtful man was eagerly digging that hole. Reply

[brotherbear]

The Grizzly by Enos A. Mills.

The keenness of the grizzly's sagacity and the workings of his rare wit were impressive upon me in a photographing experience that I had. Two other young fellows and I thought we could get a near-by photograph of an old grizzly that ranged near us. We entered his territory at three widely seperated places and moved in concert toward the center. We hoped that either one of us would be able to slip up close to the grizzly or else he, in running away, would come close to one of us.

Very soon one of the boys aroused the bear and started him running. The grizzly had evidently scented him half a mile away. Running in my direction, when within about a mile he discovered my presence, turned, and retreaded six or seven miles into a remote corner of his territory. In this retreat he did not go within two miles of either of the other fellows.

Realizing that the bear had eluded us, we slightly seperated and moved toward him. He did not wait to be cornered in a canyon. Late that day we followed his devious tracks and discovered his movements. We learned to our chagrin that he had doubled back in the canyon and come part way toward us. Then, climbing an out-thrusting ridge where he could see in all directions, he evidently had watched us when we passed up a grassy valley beneath him. After we were in the timber beyond he had descended to the valley. Then the most amazing turn came. Instead of running away in the opposite direction he had followed along close behind us! By the time we discovered all this the day was gone, and so was the bear. He had had an adventure.

Did the grizzly know we were unarmed? He might have used the same tactics in any case. Anyway, he easily kept out of our way, followed our moves, and had, perhaps, enjoyed our unsuccessful efforts. Reply

[brotherbear]

The Grizzly by Enos A. Mills.

A grizzly cub in Yellowstone Park found a big ham skin - a prized delicacy. Just as the little fellow was lifting it to his mouth a big bear appeared. He instantly dropped the ham skin, sat down on it, and pretended to be greatly interested in watching something in the edge of the woods.

Another young grizzly in the Yellowstone one day found a tin can that was open at one end and partly filled with fish. He raised it in his forepaws and peeped in, then deliberately turned the can upside down and shook it. Nothing came out. He shook again; no result. Then he proceeded just about as you or I might have done. He placed the can on the ground, open end down, and hammered the bottom of the can with a stone until the fish dropped out. Reply

[brotherbear]

The Grizzly by Enos A. Mills.

In a zoo one day, a piece of hard-tack ( Webster - hard-tack - unleavened bread made in large, hard wafers ) that a grizzly bear wanted fell into the hands of a black bear. The black bear dipped the hard-tack in the water and then started to take a bite. Evidently it was too hard. He put it in the water again, and while it soaked gave his attention to something else. While the black bear was not looking, the grizzly, standing on the further edge of the pool, stirred the water with a forepaw and started the hard-tack toward him on the waves. The instant the first wave touched the black bear he looked around, grabbed the precious hard-tack, which was rapidly floating away, and, pushing it to the bottom of the pool, put one hind foot upon it. How very like the mental processes of human beings! Reply

[brotherbear]

The Grizzly by Enos A. Mills.

Round the foot of Long's Peak I followed a bear through a shallow snow, hoping to overtake and photograph him. Most of the snow had melted off the logs and boulders. After trailing him four or five miles I came to a boulder where he had climbed up and looked around. Possibly he wished to see how close I was to him; possibly he was deciding just where he would carry out a plan for outwitting me. At any rate, he jumped from the boulder, walked round it, traveled a short distance slowly, then set off on a run, going east. After I had followed his trail for more than a mile, his tracks ceased in a rocky, snowless area where his footprints did not show.

I thought I should find his tracks in the snow on the farther edge of the rocky space; but they were not there. Then, in the snow, I went entirely round the edge of the rocky space without seeing a track. Thinking that possibly the grizzly was hiding in this small rocky area, I at once cautiously circled every place behind which he might be concealed, but without finding him.

Out in the snow I made a larger circle and at last discovered his tracks. Entering the rocky space, he had turned abruptly to the left and traveled about one hundred feet. Then, from the rocks, he had made a long leap into a clump of bushes, from this leaped into another clump of bushes, and finally into the snow. He thus left the rocky place without leaving any telltale tracks within thirty feet of it.

He started westward - back toward the boulder - alongside his first trail, and traveled for about a mile parallel to it and less than one hundred feet from it. Near the boulder he waited in concealment at a point where he could watch his former trail, and evidently stayed there until I passed.

Then he traveled on a short distance to another small rocky area. Doubling in his tracks, he came back for one hundred feet or so in the trail he had thus made. Working toward his first trail, he hid his tracks by leaping among fallen timbers and bushes, and at last made a leap into his first trail by the boulder, where he made many tracks in the snow. Along his old trail he traveled east again a short distance, stepping precisely in his former footprints.

Out of this trail he leaped upon the top of a low, snowless boulder on the right, and from this upon another boulder. He walked along a bare fallen log. Here I must have searched more than two hours before detecting two or three broken sticks, which gave me a clue to the direction he had taken. From the log he walked upon a cross log and then plunged through fifty or sixty feet of thicket which showed no trail. From where he had emerged on the farther side of the thicket there was little by which to trace him for the next quarter of a mile. He zigzagged over fallen logs and leaped upon snowless boulders until he came to a tree leaning against a cliff. Up this tree he walked to a ledge, where, fortunately, there was a little snow which recorded his track. He followed the ledge to the top of the cliff and, leaving this, ran for four or five miles. It took me 24 hours to unravel the various tangles, and I finally gave up the idea of photographing him. Long before I arrived at the top of the cliff I had concluded that I was following a reasoning animal, one who might be more alert than I myself. Reply

[brotherbear]

The Grizzly by Enos A. Mills.

Though a grizzly has both speed and strength, he generally uses his wits and thus obtains the desired end in the easiest way. Three or four persons have told me that they have seen instances of a grizzly bear's taking the part of an acrobat. The bear, by this means, endeavored to attract the attention of cattle, with the idea of drawing them close and seizing one of them. Among his pranks he turned an occasional somersault, rolled over and over, and chased his tail.

A Utah grizzly killed about one thousand head of cattle in fifteen years. During this time there was a large reward offered for his death. Numerous attempts were made to capture him. Old hunters and trappers tried with rifles and traps; expeditions of men, horses, and dogs pursued him. All these years he lived on as usual in his home territory, made a kill every few days, and was seen only two or three times. Reply

[brotherbear]

The Grizzly by Enos A. Mills.

Another grizzly, eluding pursuers, slaughtered live stock freely, and managed to survive thirty five years of concerted efforts to kill or capture him. There was a rich reward on his head.

There are similar accounts of Clubfoot, Three-Toes, and other outlaw grizzlies. All of these bears slaughtered cattle by the hundreds in their home territory, lived with heavy prices on their heads, and for years outwitted skillful hunters and trappers, escaping the well-organized posse again and again. Knowing many of the hunters and their skillful methods, and the repeated triumphs of other grizzlies over combinations and new contrivances, I am convinced that the grizzly bear is an animal who reasons. Reply

[brotherbear]

The Grizzly by Enos A. Mills.

When in a trap or cornered, a wounded grizzly sometimes feigns death. Apparently he considers his situation desperate and sees in this method the possibility of throwing his assailant off guard. Considering that need of feigning death is recent - since the arrival of the white man with high-power rifles and insidious steel trap - this strategy appears like a clear case of reasoning. Reply

[brotherbear]

The Grizzly by Enos A. Mills.

The grizzly is difficult to anticipate. His strategy usually defeats the hunter. One wounded bear may at once charge the hunter, the next may run from him; and the third may hold the ground defiantly. The grizzly meets what to us seems identical situations in unlike manner, and makes sudden changes in his habits without our seeing the cause for such changes. Quickly he makes the acquaintance of the new and promptly adjusts himself to it. If it is dangerous he avoids it, if advantageous he uses it. Reply

[brotherbear]

The Grizzly by Enos A. Mills.

Often in traveling to a distant place the grizzly goes on the run, but just as often he goes at a slower speed. If plodding slowly, he conveys the impression of deliberating. He often appears to be thinking, and probably is. Though shuffling along, he is bound for a definite place with the intention of doing a definite thing. Suddenly he changes his mind and goes off in the opposite direction.

I have seen a bear hustling along, with his mind apparently made up; he is in a hurry to carry out some plan, to reach a given place, or to see some particular thing. All at once he notices where he is and stops. He remembers that he intended to look at such and such a thing on the way but has neglected to do so. He hesitates a few moments, then goes back.

On rare occasions the grizzly walks along, perhaps in bountiful summer, thinking of nothing in particular, with head swinging slowly from side to side. Something arouses him, he may promptly retreat or he may investigate. You never know what a grizzly will do next or how he will do it, but everything he does is with fresh interest and delightful individuality. Reply

[brotherbear]

The Bear Almanac by Gary Brown.

The brown bears derived from Etruscus and along the same line that produced cave bears. It evolved in open spaces, lived mostly in nonforest or woodland areas and, not being a forest animal, had to stand and fight for its territory, food, and cubs. Spread widely across the Pleistocene landscape, with the earliest bears living in China, the brown bear succeeded Arctodus simus over much of its range. Reply

[brotherbear]

At the end of the Pleistocene in North America, most of the large predators vanished. How did the grey wolf survive when the dire wolf could not? How is it that the puma survived when the cheetah, the patherines, and the saber-toothed cats could not? The black bear and the grizzly survived while the short-faced bears disappeared. I can think of a few possible reasons. Uppermost perhaps is their ability to hibernate during the harsh winter months. Also, while the black bears likely survived in the woodlands, the grizzly is highly adaptable. He is able to adjust to a variety of environments. As an omnivore, the grizzly can feast on a wide variety of food choices. Did the short-faced bears eat termites, ants, and bees? Did they catch fish or dig for clams or mussels? Did they dig after burrowing rodents?   Reply