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Post by brobear on Mar 23, 2017 7:32:36 GMT -5
The Grizzly Book by Jack Samson - A Soitary Beast by Michael Jenkinson. On the open range, the great bears became skilled predators of cattle. Unaccustomed as they were to defiance from their prey, they rarely backed off when challenged by the tough, sharp-horned bulls, and fights were not uncommon. Wanderer J. Ross Browne observed one of these struggles from the safety of a tree branch: The grizzly no sooner got within reach of the bull's horns than he seized them in his powerful grasp, keeping the head to the ground by main strength and the tremendous weight of his body, while he bit at the nose with his teeth, and raked strips of flesh from his shoulders, with his hind paws.
Suddenly the bull wrenched his head from the grasp of his adversary and retreated a few steps. The bull charged with such impetuous force that the bear, despite the most terrific blows with his paws, rolled over in the dust. By a well-directed motion ( the bull ) got one of his horns under the bear's belly.
The bull made another charge, was knocked down, and both animals rolled in desperate struggle, the grizzly biting and clawing, the bull attempting to break away, to get to its feet for another charge. The bull although badly injured and wobbly, charged the mortally gored bear, and killed it.
Then, as Browne noted, "The bull uttered a deep bellowing sound, shook his horns triumphantly, and slowly walked off. As the blood streamed from his wounds, a death-chill came over him. Finally, his body became motionless, and the victor was dead."
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Post by brobear on Mar 23, 2017 7:33:29 GMT -5
Bear Almanac by Gary Brown.
Musk Ox - These shaggy animals of the arctic tundra, with their sharp, hooked horns, are formidable opponents when circled as a group. A grizzly bear will kill an individual musk ox by attacking from behind, grasping its neck, placing a foreleg over its shoulder, and pulling it to the ground. However, bears are sometimes killed or seriously injured during an encounter.
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Post by brobear on Mar 23, 2017 7:34:02 GMT -5
Bear Almanac by Gary Brown.
Moose - A grizzly bear preying on a moose calf finds the protective mother a formidable foe. Adolf Murie " ... watched a mother, followed by her very young calf, determinedly chasing a grizzly and doing her best to overtake it." An account is related of a Russian brown bear imitating the call of an elk ( moose are called elk in Asia ) during the rutting season, luring the unsuspecting moose to where it would be easier prey.
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Post by brobear on Mar 23, 2017 7:34:57 GMT -5
Man Meets Grizzly by Young and Beyers.
We had not gone far when Father said, "There is our bear down by that big tree in the bottom. He is a big Kodiak, and if I'm not mistaken, he is stalking game." We noted his apparent interest in something ahead. He would hurry for a few rods then stop, then walk slowly forward again. We eased along, keeping our eyes on this king of the forest. We hadn't long to wait, for not far ahead, near some trees by the ledge, we spied a large bull moose and two cows. So this was what Mr. Kodiak was after! There was no pouncing upon his prey unseen; it must be attack and kill. From all we had heard of Kodiak bears and their great strength, we figured it wouldn't take that bear long to procure his game. It was a natural conclusion to make, but as we got a better look at the bull moose, with his powerful build, those big horns with their wide-spread points and spike, that great head and muscular neck and shoulders, and those hoofs, we concluded that even the Kodiak might have some killing to do.
The wind, what there was of it, blew down the canyon, so the bear had not noticed us, nor had the moose been aware of the Kodiak until he was rather close. Some of the bear's approach was made in the open, as the trees were in groups or patches. When the moose became aware of his enemy, he snorted a warning to the cows, and they moved quickly into the timber while the guardian stood his ground. He pawed the earth and tossed his huge antlers. The Kodiak immediately began a series of preliminary and threatening rushes and sideward advances, keeping his eyes constantly on his prey.
At this point the two giants of the North Country were not far apart, only two or three yards. The bear champed his jaws and made a whining half-whoof and rose upon his legs, a magnificent specimen of strength. But to our surprise and amazement, the moose took the challenge and sprang to the fray. As he came near to the bear he rose upon his hind feet for the charge, his great horns making a formidable spectacle. He was fully as tall as the Kodiak.
Then they both made the plunge to kill, simultaneously, but the bear's huge paw found its mark first and tore the moose's shoulder and side with such accuracy and force that it sent the animal whiling and slipping for thirty feet, and left a ragged, open cut a yard long in his flesh. Was this the end? Surely it would seem so, but it was not. To our surprise the moose gathered himself and with quick bounds was upon the furry beast with all his might, tearing into him with those terrible sharp antlers. When the bear shook loose, it took him some time to recover and strike the moose again.
They separated and sparred for an opening. Our pack animals had become excited at this point, so we took them back from the rim and made them fast to a tree. When we rode back to our vantage point, we found the monsters in a fierce struggle again. This was repeated many times. We believed the bear would soon finish the moose, but the anger and strength of the bull was a fair match for the Kodiak.
Dad said, "how long do you think this thing can last?" We had been so interested we forgot about the time, and the sun was far to the west. The beasts would hit and gore and struggle for advantage and occasionally separate and move apart to get their wind. Neither would give up. At any minute we expected to see one or the other admit he had had enough and leave the arena. It was a battle of champions. Since that day I have seen some fights by men and animals and have read of many, but never have I seen or heard of such a vicious struggle as my father and I witnessed from a ringside seat on the rim of Little White Horse Creek. I thrill to think of it now. The combatants had moved away from each other, and it looked as though it might be a mutual agreement to postpone the decision. The moose stood off a few yards looking at the shaggy, torn Kodiak as he walked up the rocky slope toward the ledge. When the bear turned, with his back to a massive block of stone, he looked at the moose as though to say, "If you want me, come up and get me!" The moose shook his stack of broad, sharp-pointed horns, struck the ground with a strong hoof, and accepted the challenge. With a spring over the rocks, and head down, he struck old Kodiak in the side with two spikes and drove them home. He heaved the bear up against the wall. The bear had no doubt looked to the wall for protection; it now served as a backstop. The moose's legs stiffened and he bored in on the bear, which gave forth a bellowing howl unworthy of such a boastful fighter. The bear struggled to free himself. He bit and struck with his front paws and clawed with his hind feet, but the moose never for a moment relaxed his determination to put an end to the struggle. For three quarters of an hour, by my father's watch, this gripping round went on. It was getting late, and we wanted to be on our way, but could not pull ourselves from such a contest. We had to know its outcome.
The bear's moans and groans became fainter and died down. Then the moose withdrew those gory antlers, gave his head a shake, snorted to clear the blood from his nostrils and mouth, stepped aside, freeing the bear, and watched his vanquished enemy roll over three or four times to the level ground. The moose went to the carcass and looked at it a moment; then, being satisfied, proudly limped away up the canyon to the cows.
For eight hours we had been spellbound. Now we rode down and examined the mutilated Kodiak. We measured him. Father said he was thirteen feet, six inches, from the tip of the nose to the end of the tail - and a bear's tail is not long. The skin was too much torn to be of any use, so we proceeded upon our journey.
Coming back a week later, we ran onto the carcass of a very large moose. His bones had been stripped by the wolves, but the antlers showed the effects of that gallant fight. Whether he had been killed by wolves or had died from the awful blows and bites of the bear we could not know. But his courage and tenacity had made him a worthy adversary against the great Kodiak. I wondered then how many such dramas are enacted in the wilderness when no man or even other animal is present to give testimony.
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Post by brobear on Mar 23, 2017 7:35:42 GMT -5
The Bear Almanac by Gary Brown.
Horses - Bears and horses or mules, in general, appear to have a healthy and mutual respect. They each prevent surprise encounters due to their acute hearing and smell and so normally avoid confrontation, and a horse's hooves pounding on the trail is an excellent warning to the bear. However, there are exceptions to this mutual avoidance. Bears, whether surprised and threatened or protecting a food source or cubs, have been aggressive, and horses and mules are defensive as well. In 'American Bear', ( Paul Schullery ), Theodore Roosevelt relates that the bear ... " has much respect for the hoofs ... of it's should be prey. Some horses do not seem to know how to fight at all; but others arte both quick and vicious, and prove themselves very formidable foes, lashing out behind and striking with their fore-hoofs." A park biologist in Yellowstone National; Park in 1966, on horseback and leading a pack mule, encountered a grizzly bear on an elk carcass. As the bear charged, the biologist threw the mule's lead-rope upon the pack so the mule would have the freedom t5o run and escape. As the biologist rapidly retreated, he heard a "screaming bray" from the mule, and turning, he expected to see the worst. However, the grizzly bear was departing as the mule with hackles raised, head down and outstretched toward the bear, was expressing its dominance of that moment.
n 1872, near Fort Wingate, New Mexico, two soldiers of a cavalry regiment came to their death at the claws of a grisly bear. The army surgeon who attended them told me the particulars, as far as they were known. The men were mail carriers, and one day did not come in at the appointed time. Next day, a relief party was sent out to look for them, and after some search found the bodies of both, as well as that of one of the horses. One of the men still showed signs of life; he came to his senses before dying, and told the story. They had seen a grisly and had pursued it on horseback, with their Spencer rifles. On coming close, one had fired into its side, when it turned with marvelous quickness for so large and unwieldy an animal, and struck down the horse, at the same time inflicting a ghastly wound on the rider. The other man dismounted and came up to the rescue of his companion. The bear then left the latter and attacked the other. Although hit by the bullet, it charged home and threw the man down, and then lay on him and deliberately bit him to death, while his groans and cries were frightful to hear. Afterward it walked off into the bushes without again offering to molest the already mortally wounded victim of its first assault. At certain times the grisly works a good deal of havoc among the herds of the stockman. A friend of mine, a ranchman in Montana, told me that one fall bears became very plenty around his ranches, and caused him severe loss, killing with ease even full-grown steers. But one of them found his intended quarry too much for him. My friend had a stocky, rather vicious range stallion, which had been grazing one day near a small thicket of bushes, and toward evening, came galloping in with three or four gashes in his haunch, that looked as if they had been cut with a dull axe. The cowboys knew at once that he had been assailed by a bear, and rode off to the thicket near which he had been feeding. Sure enough a bear, evidently in a very bad temper, sallied out as soon as the thicket was surrounded, and, after a spirited fight and a succession of charges, was killed. On examination, it was found that his under jaw was broken, and part of his face smashed in, evidently by the stallion's hoofs. The horse had been feeding when the bear leaped out at him but failed to kill at the first stroke; then the horse lashed out behind, and not only freed himself, but also severely damaged his opponent.
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Post by brobear on Mar 23, 2017 7:36:25 GMT -5
The Grizzly Book by Jack Samson - A Gallery of Outlaw Grizzlies by W.P. Hubbard - Red Robber 1880 - 1885.
Within a month, six friendly Utes rode into the JRX Ranch and told Riley a bear had attacked fourteen wild horses they had left overnight in a horse trap. Riley and some of his men went to the trap. It was located at the end of a small blind-pocket canyon. The Utes had barricaded the narrow entrance with a log gate. The trap itself was small and surrounded by high, sheer, rocky walls. The Utes had caught the herd the afternoon before and then gone to their camp for the night. Upon returning to the trap next morning, they discovered the bear had invaded it during their absence. Three horses were dead. Two others were so badly injured they had to be shot. One was a beautiful blaze-faced chestnut that Riley had tried several times to capture. Riley was so angered he vowed vengeance on all bears, offering $50 to anyone who would bring him the Red Robber's hide: the first reward placed on the bear.
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Post by brobear on Mar 23, 2017 7:41:36 GMT -5
Animal facts and feats by Gerald L. Wood. The only creatures that the large brown bears of Alaska have to fear are men - and perhaps the odd horse or so! Some years ago a surveying party tried to land a small number of horses near Geographic Bay on the Alaskan mainland for transportation use. The animals were being towed in a barge, and as the shoreline came into sight a violent storm blew up. Somehow or other the two vessels became separated, with the result that the equine cargo was tipped into the rough sea. There was only one survivor, and this courageous beast managed to swim to the shore collapsing.
During the next few months the stallion was often seen on the open beach and passing fishermen would land there specially to feed the friendly animal. It must have helped considerably because three years later the steed, now a local celebrity, was still alive and flourishing, despite the fact that there were a number of giant brown bears in the area.
One day Bill Kvasnikoff, a professional hunter, was passing along this shoreline in his boat when he suddenly spotted two large brown bears making rapid tracks for the horse which, attracted by the noise of the outboard engine, was standing on the beach hoping for a tidbit. The next moment he witnessed one of the most amazing battles in Nature.
"As the bears tore in, teeth grabbing and arms flailing", writes Clyde Ormond ( 1961 ), "they were met with feet on each end of their adversary, and teeth almost equal to their's. They were met also with a speed in whirling, ducking to knees and running ... which baffled the bears and kept them off balance. Fur, hide and feet flew. Dust enveloped them all. The squeals of the furious nag mixed with the roars and bawls of the bears."
The fight, which lasted about 5 minutes, eventually ended with two bears running for their lives with the enraged stallion in hot pursuit, which suggests that the equine fury had been involved in battles with brown bears many times and had developed some expertise in this field.
Note: the fact that there were two bears hunting together would suggest that these were sub-adult bears, not long in leaving their mother; very likely about three or four years old.
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Post by brobear on Mar 23, 2017 7:42:07 GMT -5
The Great Bear Almanac by Gary Brown - Theodore Roosevelt told the story of a stallion that defended against a grizzly bear, breaking its jaw and chasing it away. M.P. Skinner, in Bears in the Yellowstone, wrote of his horse that would attack bears "on sight". It killed two American black bears, "lashing out at them with... hind hoofs ( lightning quick, crashing blows from the rear ) and then quickly spring away before the return charge." He also relates that his horse had "driven several grizzly bears off, without ever having received a scratch...."
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Post by brobear on Mar 23, 2017 7:44:36 GMT -5
Grizzly Years by Doug peacock.
The Bitter Creek Grizzly was the only bear I knew of in Yellowstone that regularly killed moose and bison. He attacked younger animals - ambushed them from nearby timber, then dragged them back into the trees, sometimes covering the carcasses with dirt and sticks. I had seen this too many times to believe that these animals had all conveniently died during the winter. His was not the usual pattern of predation for grizzlies. In 1977, when I first crossed paths with the Bitter Creek Griz, a biologist had found another grizzly who had passed up many carcasses for live elk: The bear liked to kill what he ate. A few bears learn to kill healthy adult elk during all seasons, and cow-struck bulls during the rut were especially stupid and approachable. Yellowstone grizzlies also prey on elk calves, as they do caribou calves in Alaska, and moose calves in both places. Adult moose were generally a match for a grizzly except when snows were deep and lightly crusted: grizzlies can walk lightly over a thin crust, distributing their weight evenly on their plantigrade feet, and they glide over the top of deep drifts in which moose wallow.
I thought that grizzly predation was not as common here as it had been a decade or more ago. The predatory segment of the population had probably been killed off selectively, and continues to be culled as they were born into it, because predatory bears are bolder and more visible. The Bitter Creek Griz was a holdover from the days when bears could afford to be bold and aggressive. Which served, as it always had, an important ecological function vital to survival of the species.
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Post by brobear on Mar 23, 2017 7:45:23 GMT -5
The Grizzly Bear by William H. Wright ( 1909 )... Grizzlies have jaws like iron. In and about old Indian camps, where the old leg and thigh bones of elk and moose have been left, I have seen these crushed into fragments, even ground into particles, by the vice-like jaws of these bears; this, of course, for the marrow that was to be found in them. Many think that the grizzly is a habitual hunter and killer of wild game; and in certain localities, and in times past, this may possibly have been true. This we will discuss father on. I have never, however, in all my experience, found a single wild animal of any kind whatsoever, except the little fellows before mentioned, that I had any reason to think had been killed by a grizzly. That the grizzly can, and that easily, kill an elk or a moose, there is no sort of doubt. Nor do I deny that such killings have taken place. But I am firmly persuaded that he never attempts it unless it be in cases of emergency or where some exceptional circumstances lead up to it. Should a grizzly happen, for example, to be near a water lick where these animals come to drink, he might, in one of his impatient rushes, strike down one of them, but the animals that might be destroyed in this way are a negligible quantity.
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Post by brobear on Mar 23, 2017 7:45:56 GMT -5
shaggygod.proboards.com/ First posted by Grraahh... Bears as predators.... The size of a carnivore strongly influences the size of the prey it is capable of killing, the maximum size of prey killed being slightly larger than that of the predator. For example, a 100 kilogram (220 pound) bear can handle prey weighing up to roughly 150 kilograms (330 pounds). Polar bears prey primarily on the smallish (60 kilogram/ 130 pound) ringed seal and the larger (up to 360 kilogram/790 pound) bearded seal. In some instances, polar bears can remove up to 44 percent of the ringed seal pups born in a particular area. They are also known to kill walruses (500 kilograms/1,100 pounds) and white whales weighing up to 600 kilograms (1,320 pounds). Brown bears, while primarily vegetarian, can also prey significantly on hoofed mammals. In some areas, adult males reportedly kill three or four adult moose (450 kilograms/990 pounds) per year, with females killing an average of one. Caribou (150 kilograms/330 pounds), musk ox (250 kilograms/550 pounds), elk (200 kilograms/ 440 pounds), and bison (500 kilograms/ 1,100 pounds) have all been taken. Brown bears also prey on ground squirrels, trout, and salmon, but usually only when they are sufficiently abundant to make hunting them energy-efficient. ANDREW E. DEROCHER AND IAN STIRLING, Bears: Majestic Creatures of the Wild (1993).
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Post by brobear on Mar 23, 2017 7:46:32 GMT -5
California's Day of the Grizzly by William B. Secrest.
Ygnacio Villegas, Boyhood Days, Ygnacio Villegas' Reminiscences of California in the 1850s, Dr. Albert Shumate ( ed. ), 1983:
The grizzlies were ferocious animals and some weighed close to a ton. They were frequently eight feet in height. These animals killed many hogs, horses, sheep, and cattle. They could grab a pig and run away with it like a coyote does with a rabbit.
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Post by brobear on Mar 23, 2017 7:49:38 GMT -5
www.ultimateungulate.com/index.htmlAmerican bison Body Length: up to 380 cm / 12.5 ft Shoulder Height: up to 195 cm / 6.5 ft. Tail Length: 90 cm / 3 ft. Weight: 545-818 kg / 1200-1800 lb. Yak Body Length: Up to 325 cm / 10.8 ft. Shoulder Height: Up to 200 cm / 6.6 ft. Tail Length: 60 cm / 24 in. Weight: 305-820 kg / 670-1805 lb. Musk ox Body Length: 200-245 cm / 6.6-8.1 ft. Shoulder Height: 125-135 cm / 4.1-4.5 ft. Tail Length: 10-14 cm / 4-5.6 in. Weight: 180-380 kg / 396-836 lb.
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Post by brobear on Mar 23, 2017 7:55:15 GMT -5
gobiestogrizzlies.blogspot.com/2008/07/muskox-on-menu-grizzly-predation-on.html The muskox (Ovibos moschatus) is a large ungulate (the average male weight is from 273 to 364 kg [600 to 800 pounds]) equipped with curved horns and a shaggy pelage which can be up to 10 cm (4 inches) thick. It is a close relative of the sheep or goats (subfamily Caprinae) and is able to withstand incredibly frigid, arctic conditions (down to at least – 70 ºF). Muskox tend to live in herds and are famous for their defensive posturing – they often form a defensive circle with their heads (i.e., armament) facing outward toward the potential threat. Youngsters often hide amongst the adults for protection. The barren-ground grizzly bears and muskox overlap in their distribution in northern Canada and Alaska. This shaggy beast would appear to be fairly impervious to grizzly attack. But, this is not the case. Grizzlies were originally reported feeding on muskox by early explorers and with recent reintroduction of these ungulates in parts of the Arctic, there have been a number of papers written on the predator-prey relationship of U. arctos and O. moschatus. Below I have reviewed what is known about the barren-ground grizzly predation on muskox. Multiple Hunting Strategy In the Thelon Game Sanctuary, grizzlies and muskox coexist, but the relationship is not always copasetic. Near the Thelon River, bears may use thick willow stands along the waterway to ambush muskox feeding on sedge in nearby clearings. Willows also attract muskox, as it is a preferred food of this beast. Gunn and Miller (1982) report finding a bear on a freshly killed, bull O. moschatus. They were able to scare the adult bear off and examine its kill and concluded that the bear had dispatched the big ungulate by first grasping its nose (crushing the nasal turbine bones and tearing off the nose in the process) and then inflicting a crippling bite to its skull. By grasping the nose, the bear may have prevented the muskox from bringing its horns to bear and also may have been more effective at throwing the animal to the ground. In another study carried out in the northeastern Arctic slopes of Alaska, 92 grizzly-muskox interactions were observed (Reynolds et al. 2002). Fifty percent of these were known kills, 40 % were possible kills or scavenging events, and 10 % were incidents where a grizzly was seen chasing muskox. It was estimated that 16-39 % of muskox mortality was the result of bear predation. During the study period (1982-2001) the number of muskox killed by grizzly bears was zero to two deaths per year before 1993, one to four musk ox per year from 1994-1997 and five to ten deaths per year from 1998-2001. This increase in kill numbers was a function of an increase in the size of musk ox herds. An increase in kills may also be indicative of the bears learning how to better attack and take down these big, formidable animals. While solitary adult bears were most often seen attacking muskox (69 occasions), pairs or trios of adult bears were seen chasing, killing or eating these animals (three episodes). Sows with cubs or yearlings were seen interacting with muskox on three occasions. Surplus Killing Grizzly bears sometimes engage in surplus killing of muskox. In the study carried out by Reynolds et al. (2002) there were ten episodes where one to three bears killed from two to four adult muskox. On several occasions even more muskox were dispatched during a single hunting bout. For example, in one case five individuals (two adult females, a yearling and unsexed adult musk ox) were incapacitated by a single bear. In another case, a grizzly killed four calves and in another incident the victims were one adult female, one two-year old male and one yearling. In most cases, solitary bears were involved in these killing sprees, but in one case three grizzlies instigated the melee. Clarkson et al. (1993) reported a fascinating case of surplus killing of muskox calves by a heterosexual pair of adult grizzlies. Within a distance of about two km, the two bears took down five young musk ox. By doing a little forensic work, the researchers were able to put together a likely picture of what had happened. Rather than form a defensive circle to try and parry the bear attacks, this herd of musk ox tried to out run the grizzlies. The researchers postulated that the calves trailed behind the adults and, therefore, were more vulnerable. The two bears chased the herd, which consisted of 40 to 50 muskox (with a minimum of eight calves). They killed the first calf and ate 90 % of the carcass. They then chased the herd down again and about 1.5-2.0 km from the first kill dispatched a second young musk ox. They ate 60 % of this second calve and began the hunt again. They killed the third calf about 300 m from the second. The third calf was about 30 % consumed by the bears and a wolverine (Gulo gulo) that was feeding on the carcass when the researchers arrived on the scene. The fourth calve was killed 400 m from the third. A golden eagle had just begun to feed on calf four when the researchers arrived. The final calf was killed about 200 m from the fourth – this last young muskox was not eaten either. References: Clarkson, P. L. and I. Sarma Liepins. 1993. Grizzly bear, Ursus arctos, predation on muskox, Ovibos moschatus, calves near the Horton River, Northwest Territories. Canadian Field Nat. 107:100-102. Gunn, A. and F. L. Miller. 1982. Muskox bull killed by a barren-ground grizzly bear, Thelon Game Sanctuary, N.W.T. Arctic 35:545-546. Reynolds, P. E., H. V. Reynolds and R. T. Shideler. 2002. Predation and multiple kills of muskoxen by grizzly bears. Ursus 13:79-84.
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Post by brobear on Mar 23, 2017 7:55:46 GMT -5
shaggygod.proboards.com/ "In the study area, brown bears (Ursus arctos) kill more muskoxen than wolves." "...Predation on muskoxen poses risks for griz-zly bears because muskoxen defend themselves against predators by running together and wheeling to face an approaching bear or wolf (Canis lupus) with a wall of horns .Adult muskoxen also dart out of a defensive groupto attack an approaching predator. Horns can be lethalweapons against bears. One radiocollared male grizzly bear (No. 031, age 11) had serious puncture wounds from a muskox when it was captured in June 1995, but it survived the injuries. Another marked male bear (No. 056, age 5) died several weeks after receiving wounds from an adult male muskox during an attack in June 2000..."
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Post by brobear on Mar 23, 2017 7:57:10 GMT -5
shaggygod.proboards.com/ Excerpts from, The Time of the Buffalo (1972) by Tom McHugh: On rare occasions, even wolves and grizzly bears—normally classed as predators of buffalo—have been killed by their own prey. George Catlin once painted a scene of a lone bull being attacked by a circle of wolves. In notes accompanying the painting, he explained how some of the wolves, "less lucky, had been crushed to death by the feet or the horns of the bull." Two other writers detailed similar episodes in which wolves attacked bulls only to be fatally gored themselves. A buffalo bull has also been known to battle a grizzly bear to death, if we can accept two startling accounts by Indian witnesses. In both episodes, a bear lay in wait on a rise above a trail, pouncing on a cow as the herd passed underneath, and a bull eventually dispatched the assailant after prolonged battle. One of the Indians described the fracas he saw: The bull would charge the bear, and when he struck him fairly would knock him off his feet, often inflicting severe wounds with his sharp horns. The bear struck at the bull, and tried to catch him by the head or shoulders, and to hold him, but this he could not do. After fifteen or twenty minutes of fierce and active fighting the bear had received all the punishment he cared for, and tried to escape, but the bull would not let him go, and kept up the attack until he had killed his adversary. Even after the bear was dead the bull would gore the carcass and sometimes lift it clear of the ground on his horns. He seemed insane with rage, and, notwithstanding the fact that most of the skin was torn from his head and shoulders, appeared to be looking about for something else to fight. It is easier to confirm a more recent account of such a battle in the records of two Yellowstone Park rangers. While patrolling the Lamar Valley in June of 1951, the men discovered the mutilated carcass of a medium-sized female grizzly, dead for no more than three or four days. Both sides of the body were badly bruised and bloodied; all the ribs on one side were broken; and the belly was punctured by two holes whose size and spacing suggested the horns of a young buffalo. Near the carcass were several patches of buffalo fur and numerous hoof-prints, but no dead or injured victim was ever found. The rangers concluded that a buffalo had struggled with and "in all probability killed" the grizzly. pp. 213-214. Among the scattered historical accounts on grizzly predation, the best evidence comes from the journals of Lewis and Clark. In one provocative entry, Lewis wrote: "These bears resort the river where they lie in wate at the crossing places of the game for Elk and weak cattle (buffalo); when they procure a subject of either they lie by the carcass and keep the wolves off until they devour it." The journals also reveal much by what they leave unsaid. Buffalo, wolves, and grizzlies ("white bears") are frequently listed as inhabitants of the same regions, but wolves alone are depicted as constant predators: "We have seen great numbers of buffalo, and the usual attendants of these last, the wolves, who follow their movements and feed upon those who die by accident or who are too poor to keep pace with the herd; we also wounded a white bear . . ." Many of the predatory efforts undertaken by the bears were against the expeditionaries themselves, some of whom had narrow escapes from the beasts. "The White bear have become so troublesome to us," wrote Lewis, "that I do not think it prudent to send one man alone on an errand of any kind ... I have made the men sleep with their arms by them . . ." There are only two or three eyewitness accounts of grizzly predation against buffalo. Of these, the most detailed comes from a Canadian journal: One bear [grizzly] killed at Hand Hills [Alberta] in 1877 required eight shots before he was disabled. His feet were eight inches across, and were armed with claws five inches long. He was caught in the act of killing a buffalo cow, and had just cracked her spine when he received the first shot. When stretched, his hide was as large as a buffalo bull . . . Apparently grizzlies were capable of killing buffalo, but did so rarely. Whether buffalo fall to grizzlies or to wolves, their end by such predation is usually expeditious and violent; the predators operate with tooth and claw and gorge themselves on the spot. p. 229.
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Post by brobear on Mar 23, 2017 7:57:52 GMT -5
shaggygod.proboards.com/ Excerpt from, The Bison of Yellowstone National Park (1973) by M.M. Meagher: Predation There was no direct evidence for predation on the present herd. Circumstances suggested a grizzly kill of an apparently healthy, mature bull in mid-summer of 1967. Remains of bone and hair indicated the bull died at the edge of a small group of trees in a meadow, south of Hayden Valley. The lack of broken bones, the relatively young age of the animal, and the site of death all suggested a grizzly (Ursus horribilis) might have killed the bull. McHugh (1958) also mentioned indirect evidence of grizzly predation. Dave Pierson (1968 pers. comm.) believed both black {Ursus americanus) and grizzly bears would take calves in the spring, but calf counts during the study do not indicate much loss. However, such loss might have occurred at or immediately after birth, before the calves were observed with the cows. p. 72.
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Post by brobear on Mar 23, 2017 7:59:02 GMT -5
Extracted follow up to Tom McHugh, Social Behavior of the American Bufallo (Bison, bison, bison) 1958; in Zoologica: New York Zoological Society [43: 1]: shaggygod.proboards.com/Predators. Grizzly bears commonly hunted over meadows in Hayden Valley. They usually came out of the timber at dusk and returned within a few hours after dawn, yet were seen during all hours of the day, particularly in spring or fall. When a female grizzly and three cubs hunted and captured a hidden elk calf within 700 feet of a buffalo herd of 78, the herd paid no attention to the bears. Catlin (1876-1: 254), Goodwin (1939: 369) and Soper (1941: 403) noted a similar indifference to wolves close to the herd. No definite grizzly kills were ever discovered in Hayden Valley, although the bears obviously had devoured one old bull, the cause of whose death was unknown, and another bull killed in battle. Approximately one per cent, of the buffalo in Hayden Valley had one shriveled rear leg, an injury that could have been caused by bears. Four buffalo were seen with claw-mark scars on their flanks or legs, probably from grizzlies. Way (1951) presented circumstantial evidence for the killing of a grizzly by a buffalo in the Lamar Valley of Yellowstone Park on about June 7. The badly mutilated carcass of a mature female grizzly bear was discovered three or four days after death.
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Post by brobear on Mar 23, 2017 8:00:30 GMT -5
shaggygod.proboards.com/ Follow up extract to M.M. Meagher in Big game of North America: ecology and management (1978) Chapter 8, Bison: Predation The physical structure of bison, with massive front quarters, and its stolid temperament, suggest that as a species it evolved to face danger rather than flee, making them quite vulnerable to the modern rifle. Only two predators other than man have been associated with bison: the grizzly bear and wolf. We cannot evaluate fairly their historic relationships to the bison, but instances of grizzly predation must have been opportunistic and infrequent. Judging by some accounts, bears were losers as often as winners in direct conflicts with bison. Rare circumstantial evidence for grizzly predation in Yellowstone has been found. More important, winter-killed bison provide carrion for grizzlies emerging from winter dens. Wolves prey on bison in Wood Buffalo National Park. They act as culling agents, but do not regulate the bison population. At present, wolves are too few in Yellowstone to exert significant predation; historical records suggest that elk would be more likely prey in this locale. p. 126.
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Post by brobear on Mar 23, 2017 8:03:02 GMT -5
A.W.F. Banfield in The Mammals of Canada (1974) communicates the following:
Only the grizzly bear, the mountain lion, and the wolf are strong enough to kill a bison. Before the advent of Europeans to this continent, the grizzly and the wolf were abundant on the prairies, but it is doubtful that the mountain lion was an important predator. Even a pack of wolves cannot easily overcome a lone bison; they are forced to prey upon lone senile bulls, orphaned or strayed calves, and crippled, wounded, or diseased animals.
p. 406.
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