Riverwind (imported) wrote: Wed Sep 30, 2009 7:44 pm
I think you need to go back and reread what I said, A bear is awake for 6 month then sleeps for 6 months, in human terms that is one full day for the bear and it takes a year to do it. Hence, a bear lives for 30 days or so, which takes about 30 years.
River
No, it is a myth that bears hibernate, they do have a period of winter torpor, but they DO NOT SLEEP for six months at a stretch, and because they never drink their coffee black, they don't stay up for six months at one time either. They are awake in the daylight and sleep at night all through the year. We have mule deer and bears coming down from the mountains usually in the early mornings; right now they have been very active because of the Station Fire which has driven all the animals from their homes. Bears frequently avail themselves of people's hottubs, and there is no six month lull in the practice. Maybe it is because we are used to it, but NO ONE runs from a bear. They are much faster than humans and will catch you every time. You stand as tall and straight as you can and spread out your coat so you look as big as possible and BACK away keeping the bear in sight all the time. Most bears aren't interested in you, as was noted earlier, animals have personalities and some are meaner than others.
When people around here have a bear in the hot tub or feeding in the fish pond we call the wildlife and game people and they usually tranquilize the animal and move it to a remote part of the national forest. A year or so ago, there was a cougar that took to hunting people. That animal had to be destroyed. I am more concerned about cougars than bears, because cougars hunt by stealth.
