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Post by brobear on Apr 12, 2018 2:41:38 GMT -5
*Fan-boys finding a way to shrink the grizzly in a head-and-body length comparison - measuring along the curves. Seriously! If we were going to compare a Bactrian camel with a horse at head-and-body length, would we measure along the curves? I don't think so. It was proven on a similar topic in the old AVA blog site ( animals vs animals ) that ( when speaking of big cats and bears ) the head-and-body length is normally within an inch or two the same as bipedal height. ( like two men each 6 feet tall facing each other ). For the purpose of comparing girth, to decide which animal has the greatest circumference around his chest at otherwise equal size, measuring at equal head-and-body length is the only fair method available. Naturally, the one with the greater girth is going to outweigh the lesser one. To shrink the heavier contestant is simply cheating for the lighter-built contestant. The bear proves to be far superior in girth over the big cat as should be expected. Polar says: Pckts is not really a big-cat fan, more like a reasonable big cat enthusiast. IMO, he was a fan-boy on the old AVA and he has not changed. Why else would he twist this contest in his failed attempt at proving the tiger to have a greater girth than a grizzly?
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2018 17:21:52 GMT -5
Credits to Keremeos Review. Grizzlies destroy bear-proof bin:It wasn’t a record-setting time, but the two Yukon grizzly bears at the BC Wildlife Park in east Kamloops were eating lunch in short order on Wednesday.
Each year at the park, WildSafe BC tests bear-bin products to determine just how impervious they really are to a bruin.
No bin is considered to be fully bear-proof, so in order to be certified bear-resistant through WildSafe’s program, this year’s plastic compost bin — equipped with eight locks on the lid — needed to withstand the bears’ efforts for an hour without any food shaking loose.
Zookeeper Danielle Rogers loaded the bins with items such as dog food, fruits, meat and fish, as well as a few additional incentives, including peanut butter and jam.
“Basically, what we’ve got out there is their regular diet and the additional [incentives] would be stuff we use to attract them over to it,” Rogers said, noting that after many tests, the bears can lose interest.
But there was plenty of interest in this bin.
The 270-kilogram (600-pound) Knute and his 160-kilogram (350-pound) sister Dawson came running over to check it out.
The grizzlies started off by licking some of the peanut butter smeared around the locks, which led them to roll the composter, nibbling and clawing at it.
Knute seemed to lose interest quickly, but a persistent Dawson kept at it, rolling the bin around their enclosure.
When Knute tried to tag back in, Dawson was quick to push him away and even jumped on top of the bin when he got too close.
Nearing the 30-minute mark, a stealthy Knute managed to sneak back on the job. After more rolling, and with some of the latches having already been broken off, he pulled away one final latch with his teeth and peeled the lid back.
A cheer rang out from the crowd that had gathered and the two bears began to feast after about a half-hour on the job.
The record for the bears is well under the minute mark, WildSafe BC provincial co-ordinator Frank Ritcey told KTW.
Having been opened after just 30 minutes, the bin failed to pass the test, so it will go back to the manufacturer, which will need to strengthen the weak points.
“They’ll redesign it, send it back and we’ll re-test it,” Ritcey said, noting the bins seldom pass the bear test on the first try.
“We’ve had as many as three tests to get a product through,” he said.
But Ritcey said he was impressed with how well this bin fared.
“One of the things that I learned from the test is that the plastic and the design of the bin itself is very rigid. The bears were not able to compress that at all,” he said, noting the latches were the Achilles heel.
“That’s what they’ll have to redesign, is how that latching system works, but the integrity of the walls and the lid were intact,” he said.
WildSafe BCs testing program is run in association with the North American Testing of Bear Resistant Products every year at the BC Wildlife Park. Containers that last an hour of contact time receive official certification and are posted on the WildSafe BC website.
“The BC Wildlife Park here is an incredibly valuable resource for the province,” Ritcey said. “Without a testing program like this, people wouldn’t know what a bear-resistant bin really is. You’ll find a lot of products that are marked as being wildlife resistant and bear resistant and they’re really not.”
Most of B.C. is bear country and most residents would benefit from having certified bear-resistant garbage cans and composter, Ritcey said.
The bin tests show just how easy it is for bears to break into a container, Rogers said, noting some people think a bungee cord will be enough to keep them out.
“That kind of thing doesn’t work,” she said. “If you can see that a unit has a full locking system on it and a bear can still get it open, then you realize that when you’re dealing with your curbside container, just sticking a bungee cord on there isn’t going to work.”
Have you ever wondered how strong a grizzly bear is? Well as you can see, Knute, the male grizzly bear at the park, has no issue making this large tire move.www.facebook.com/BCWildlifePark/videos/2060549987307858/
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2018 17:24:20 GMT -5
Credits to Blaire Van Valkenburgh - (First posted by grraahh - shaggygod.proboards.com/)SPEED AND STRENGTH All bears have a large head with small ears followed by massive shoulders and a short back and | tail, all of which are supported on thick limbs and broad paws. Compared with big cats, bears have longer snouts and shorter, stiffer backs. Relative to large dogs, bears have bulky legs and much more spreading feet. Unlike these other carnivores, and more like humans, bears walk on the soles of their hindfeet, with their ankle joint positioned just above the ground. This condition is called plantigrade, and differs from the digitigrade posture of cats and dogs, in which the “soles” of the feet are elevated, along with the ankle, and only the toes touch the ground. To understand why bears are built so differendy from cats and dogs, it is essential to explain the benefits of digitigrade feet.
Running around on your toes in a digitigrade posture is advantageous if speed is important. Speed is the product of stride length and stride frequency. Raising the ankle adds length to the part of the limb that determines stride length, that is from the shoulder or hip to the point of contact with the ground. Longer limbs take bigger strides, and digitigrade posture is therefore typical of mammals designed to run. Digitigrade animals also tend to have relatively long bones, or metapodials, making up the sole of the foot, adding further to total limb length. In addition, their limb muscles are much thicker close to the hip or shoulder joint, and taper towards the toes as long, elastic tendons. This construction reduces muscle mass near the ankles and feet, where the limb travels farthest during locomotion, and thus reduces inertial effects. 1- The skeletons of a bear and a domestic dog illustrate the difference between plantigrade and digitigrade postures. The dog is digitigrade, standing on its toes with the soles of its feet (metapodials) off the ground. By contrast, the soles of the bear's hindfeet are flat to the ground, as in humans, giving it a plantigrade posture.
If one imagines the additional energy required to walk or run with ankle weights or heavy shoes, then the drawbacks of heavy feet become clear. There are yet further benefits to runners in having long tendinous muscle attachments. Tendons are elastic and act as energy-saving springs when running. They are stretched as the limb is flexed under the weight of the animal and then rebound, propelling the body forward and upward. So, digitigrade posture, long metapodials, and compact muscles with stretchy tendons are typical of carnivores built for speed.
Bears are clearly not built for speed. Although their forefeet are semi-digitigrade, their hind-feet are plantigrade. Moreover, their metapodials are short and their muscles thick throughout the length of the limb. In many ways, bears are built more like badgers than other similar-sized carnivores, such as tigers, and it shows in their speed. The top speed recorded for both black and brown bears is 50 kilometers (30 miles) per hour, whereas the range for the fully digitigrade lion and wolf is 55 to 65 kilometers (35 to 40 miles) per hour.
If bears are not built for speed, then what does the combination of massive limbs, plantigrade hindfeet, cumbersome paws, and a short back provide? Strength and mobility of limb movement are the answers. The stout limbs of bears are capable of producing large forces over a much greater range of motion than those of dogs or even cats. Bears use these capabilities when digging for food or shelter, fishing for salmon, climbing to escape danger, and battling with members of their own species as well as other predators. Imagine a wolf trying to perform a bear hug or climb a tree. Dogs have forfeited these abilities in favor of speed. Cats are more like bears in their range of possible movements, but lack strength. Bears may not be able to outrun danger, but can successfully defend themselves through brute force.
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2018 17:25:36 GMT -5
The Bear Almanac by Gary Brown.
Bears possess enormous strength, regardless of species or size. The strength of a bear is difficult to measure, but observations alone ( bears moving rocks, carrying animal carcasses, removing large logs from the side of a cabin, and digging cavernous holes ) are indicative of incredible power.
A study team at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana, found that a grizzly bear could treat a 700-pound dumpster like a beach ball, while it took a minimum of two persons just to tip the dumpster. The team concluded the strength of a calm grizzly bear is two-and-a-half times that of a human.
No animal of equal size is as powerful. A bear may kill a moose, an elk, or a deer by a single blow to the neck with a powerful foreleg, then lift the carcass in its mouth and carry it for great distances. "The strength ... is in keeping with his size," describes Ben East in 'Bears'. "He is very powerfully built, a heavy skeleton overlaid with thick layers of muscle as strong as rawhide rope. He can hook his long, grizzly-like front claws under a slab of rock that three grown men could not lift, and flip it over effortlessly... A brown bear took a thousand-pound steer a half mile up an almost vertical mountain, much of the way through alder tangles with trunks three or four inches thick."
Strength and power are not only attributes of large bears, but also of the young. The author observed a yearling American black bear searching for insects turn over a flat-shaped rock that was between 310 and 325 pounds "backhanded" with a foreleg. The bear was captured the following day in a management action and was found to weigh only 120 pounds.
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2018 17:28:11 GMT -5
The Grizzly Almanac by Robert H. Busch.
Alberta bear biologist Gordon Stenhouse once watched a large grizzly running effortlessly down a steep mountain slope carrying a 300-pound sheep in its mouth. "The power of these animals is just awesome," he says ( quoted in Struzik, 1999 ).
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2018 17:29:02 GMT -5
The Grizzly Book by Jack Samson. Monarch - The Big Bear by Ernest Thompson Seton. Strong ropes, strong chains and bands of steel were at hand, with chloroform, lest he should revive too soon. Through holes in the roof with infinite toil they chained him, bound him - his paws to his neck, his neck and breast and hind legs to a bolted beam. Then raising the door, they dragged him out, not with horses - none would go near - but with a windlass to a tree; and fearing the sleep of death, they let him now revive.
Chained and double chained, frenzied, foaming, and impotent, what words can tell the state of the fallen Monarch? They put him on a sled, and six horses with a long chain drew it by stages to the plain, to the railway. They fed him enough to save his life. A great steam-derrick lifted Bear and beam and chain on to a flatcar, a tarpaulin was spread above his helpless form; the engine puffed, pulled out; and the Grizzly King was gone from his ancient hills.
So they brought him to the great city, the Monarch born, in chains. They put him in a cage not merely strong enough for a lion, but thrice as strong, and once a rope gave way as the huge one strained his bonds. "He is loose," went the cry, and an army of onlookers and keepers fled; only the small man with the calm eye and the big man of the hills were stanch, so the Monarch was still held.
Free in the cage, he swung round, looked this way and that, then heaved his powers against the triple angling steel and wrenched the cage so not a part of it was square. In time he clearly would break out. They dragged the prisoner to another that an elephant could not break down, but it stood on the ground, and in an hour the great beast had a cavern into the earth and was sinking out of sight, till a stream of water sent after him filled the hole and forced him again to view. They moved him to a new cage made for him since he came - a hard rock floor, great bars of nearly two-inch steel that reached up nine feet and then projected in for five. The Monarch wheeled once around, then rearing, raised his ponderous bulk, wrenching those bars, unbreakable, and bent and turned them in their sockets with one heave till the five-foot spears were pointed out, and then sprang to climb. Nothing but spikes and blazing brands in a dozen ruthless hands could hold him back. The keepers watched him night and day till a stronger cage was made, impregnable with a steel above and rocks below.
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2018 17:29:55 GMT -5
The Grizzly Book by Jack Samson -
The Trouble with Grizzlies by Thomas Hardin.
With the hide off, the carcass of a grizzly looked like the naked body of a grotesque and tremendously powerful man. The great ropes of muscle show where the bears get their strength. They can crush the head of a moose or a buffalo with one blow, literally powder the backbone of the largest steer. I once saw a rather small female grizzly uproot the stump of a dead timberline tree with one smooth, effortless pull. apparently she did it as easily as a tractor would have done.
Grizzlies have been known to carry away the entire carcass of a bull elk that would weigh from 700 to 800 pounds, and to drag that of a bull moose for a mile - and a big bull will weigh 1,200 or 1,300. When a grizzly puts his mind to it, he can break open the door of a trapper's cabin as if he were an animated battering ram. For his size, he is one of the most powerful beasts that walks the earth.
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2018 17:30:52 GMT -5
The Grizzly Book by Jack Samson -
Hunting the Grizzly by Ned W. Frost.
Incidentally, I had an interesting experience with "Old Four-Toes" myself which showed the tremendous strength of the animal. An eastern sportsman I was guiding had wounded a big bull elk and two days later when we finally found the body, the meat was spoiled so we removed only the scalp and antlers. After two or three days' time, when hunting in the same locality, we stopped to see if any animal had been working on the carcass. Much to our surprise, the carcass was gone but there were no tracks or blood signs in the tall grass of the meadow where it had lain. After considerable scouting about, I found some signs on a log several hundred yards up the hill. Beyond that point, through some timber, I found what remained of the elk, and there also I found a four-toed track. How that old grizzly had carried that full-grown elk carcass without leaving some sort of a trail in the tall grass has always remained a mystery to me.
I will give you another example of grizzly strength. My father, brother, and I cut a heavy pine log to be used as a drag for a bear-trap. It was all we could do to drag it a few yards and slip the rung of a forty-two pound, number six, bear-trap over the little end. We set the trap near a raging stream in full spring flood. The trap was sprung the first night and the drag mark of the trap and log led into the swift water, down whose flood creast were drifting uprooted trees nearly one hundred feet long in almost endless numbers. Father bade his trap and bear goodbye, for it seemed that no living animal, handicapped with such weight, could survive that torrent. A cold spell came along and the water fell several feet, so that father, by picking a place where there were several channels, could ford the stream on a large horse. The trap and long-trail were picked up on the other side almost straight across, and the bear was soon located.
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2018 17:31:55 GMT -5
Man Meets Grizzly by Young and Beyers.
No one doubts the grizzly's strength: old-timers, trappers, and hunters tell of grizzlies killing buffalo and dragging or carrying the huge and heavy carcass some distance over rough terrain, then burying it. Many stories have been told of the grizzly catching a buffalo or steer by the head with one paw and with the other breaking its neck. One stroke of his paw can tear the hide and ribs from a victim. However, despite his great strength, the bear has not always been victorious in these encounters. One story, for which I cannot vouch, concerns a powerful bull that was charged by a bear in a forest and, retaliating, struck his horns into his assailant, pinning him to a tree. In this situation both were later found dead, the bull from starvation, the bear from wounds. I know of a Kodiak bear and a bull moose that, joined in a standoff battle, dueled each other to death. A bull or moose cannot be easily killed unless the bear surprises the animal and strikes first. All three - moose, bull, and grizzly - have a terrible tenacity that matches their strength.
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2018 17:32:27 GMT -5
California Grizzly by Tracy I. Storer and Lloyd P. Tevis, Jr.
The bodily framework of the grizzly is substantial, to support the weight of the animal; yet the bear has a greater degree of flexibility in its movements than is possible in many other sturdily built mammals. This freedom of motion is a correlated function of the bones, ligaments, and muscles. The skeleton of a bear - grizzly or other kind - is much like that of related carnivores, but there are many small differences.
A noticeable massiveness is evident in all the bones. The neck vertebrae are large but are capable of much rotation movement, the spinous processes along the back on the dorsal vertebrae are heavy, and the shoulder blade is ample. The limbs are of nearly equal length. Both fore and hind feet are fully plantigrade: the entire surface of each foot comes in contact with the ground as the bear walks. The bones used in lifting or extending the feet ( the pisiform on the fore foot, the calcaneum on the hind ) are larger than in some other carnivores. All bones of the legs, both front and rear, are separate. In the front leg, the radius and ulna are of nearly equal size for easy and powerful rotation of that member; and in the hind leg, the fibula, which is involved in twisting movements, is free and larger in relation to the tibia than in mammals unable to make such movements. These skeletal features, together with the muscles attached to them, give the bears dexterity in using their limbs - more or less in the manner of human beings.
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2018 17:33:01 GMT -5
The Beast That Walks Like Man by Harold McCracken.
When a grizzly made a kill, of some other wild animal or domestic stock, he would generally drag it to some secluded spot to enjoy the feast. Large bears have been known to transport a full-grown elk or even a hefty steer a mile or more over rough and difficult country. Their strength is amazing. They did not make such a kill everyday. Sometimes it was infrequent. On such happy occasions, however, he ate very heartily; and, not being able to consume it all at one sitting, Old Ephraim gave serious attention to preserving and protecting what was left for future meals. After satisfying his immediate appetite he would cover up the cache with leaves or even parts of dead trees, sometimes digging out a shallow hole in the ground beforehand. Then he would wander away, to return for the next meal, or he might lie down near enough to protect it from trespassers.
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2018 17:36:51 GMT -5
Fortress of the Grizzlies by Dan Wakeman and Wendy Shymanski:
When you are traveling in bear country, whether the residents are grizzly or black, it is extremely important that you understand bear behavior. Even the smallest bears are extremely strong, and if a careless approach spooks an animal, it can injure or kill you. Learn as much as possible about bears before you venture out.
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2018 17:37:28 GMT -5
Grizzly Years by Doug Peacock.
I edged over the rise and froze: a huge dark grizzly shook the remains of a buffalo carcass in the air, much as a dog might play with a stick. From a hundred feet away I watched, motionless in the fading light.
The bear slammed the carcass to the ground and circled, stamping his forepaws on the bones and hide. I waited until his back was turned, then retreated a hundred yards and climbed a steep timbered hillside. I could see the flash of his claws as he turned over the dead buffalo. These were much longer than a black bear's, maybe four inches long. The grizzly looked almost black in the dim light. His shoulders, nearly as high as mine, were separated by a mound of muscle, which rippled as the bear pawed and slid the heavy carcass along the ground. His head was massive, scooped out below the eyes, and he must have weighed well over six hundred pounds.
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2018 17:38:03 GMT -5
The Grizzly by Enos A. Mills.
He has extraordinary strength. I have known him to drag the carcass of a cow or a steer of twice his own weight. In several instances this was dragged up the mountain-side over fallen logs, yet it was apparently moved without extraordinary effort.
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2018 17:39:46 GMT -5
A Historic Grizzly by Bob Nolin.
The power of a grizzly is second to none. To illustrate this, a man, whom I know, was mauled by a grizzly after lifting the gate of a culvert trap as he released the bear. In seconds the bear was out, pulled the trap off the flatbed and caused Louis, who was positioned on top, to slide down the top length of the trap onto the bear! The power, strength and speed to do all this in the short time it took Louis to hustle from the front to the back of the culvert trap is amazing! This occurrence greatly impressed two outdoor writers who were witnessing the release. One said afterwards that he had heard of the great bear's power and strength and its amazing feats, but he could not digest it all. After this episode he said there is no comparison between a black bear and a grizzly, since he was only familiar with black bears. Now he is a believer in Ursus arctos horribilis' power and strength.
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2018 17:40:35 GMT -5
A Historic Grizzly by Bob Nolin.
A friend of mine was a guide in the Bob Marshall Wilderness. While packing with horses along a trail that paralleled a clff, one of the pack horses slipped and catapulted several hundred feet to the bottom. Doug climbed down to claim all the gear, and decided that the dead horse would serve as bait for a grizzly. Knowing there were grizzlies in the area, he waited high above the horse through the night with the necessary equipment and gear in anticipation of an opportunity at daylight. As the sun lifted in the eastern sky, Doug carefully studied the landscape below, only to discover the horse was missing! He was totally bewildered as to what happened to the horse! Doug climbed down the cliff and found that the horse was dragged a couple hundred yards to the Middle Fork of the Flathead River by a grizzly! Doug waded the river and continued following the drag marks, which led to a huge bear cache! After carefully surveying the sight he decided against any more grizzly hunting. The one thing that stood out in his mind was the awesome strength of an animal that was able to drag a mountain horse that distance!
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2018 17:41:17 GMT -5
A Historic Grizzly by Bob Nolin.
Years ago I witnessed a line of men trying to turn a grizzly over on a mat, much like two wrestlers. If they were able to do so, then they would be awarded a monetary prize. The grizzly with the command by the trainer stood on all fours. The person would put his one hand on the bear's front upper leg ( arm ) and his other over the bear's back. Weight was no factor since this bear was hardly any bigger than these two hundred and fifty pound people. On a command from the trainer the scuffle started, and in a matter of seconds the bear was on top of each of the contestants. One guy apparently irritated the bear because the bear flew up and around in one motion and had the guy pinned! It was a blessing the bear was declawed and wore a face muzzle, or this guy would have been in big trouble. I could hardly believe the quickness of that bear!
In Monterrey, Mexico a California grizzly killed an African lion so quickly that the large crowd weatching did not know how it was done! During that same time frame a grizzly killed a bull in a ring in similar fashion.
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2018 17:43:57 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2018 17:45:30 GMT -5
Credits to Sacco, T. and Van Valkenburgh, B. (2004), Ecomorphological indicators of feeding behaviour in the bears (Carnivora: Ursidae). Journal of Zoology, 263: 41–54.
Bears typically kill using brute force and do not seem to exhibit any stereotyped killing postures or behaviours as seen in canids and felids (R. Boertje, pers. comm.; J. Hechtel, pers. comm.). Polar bears and brown bears have been observed to attack their prey both with bites and crushing forepaw slaps, apparently to whatever region of the prey’s body is accessible (Murie, 1985; Boertje et al., 1988; Case & Stevenson, 1991; M. Ramsay, pers. comm; J. Hechtel, pers. comm.).
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2018 17:46:57 GMT -5
The Bear Almanac by Gary Brown.
STRENGTH - Bears possess enormous strength, regardless of species or size. The strength of a bear is difficult to measure, but observations alone ( bears moving rocks, carrying animal carcasses, removing large logs from the side of a cabin, and digging cavernous holes ) are indicative of incredible power.
A study team at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana, found that a grizzly bear could treat a 700-pound garbage dumpster like a beach ball, while it took a minimum of two persons just to tip the dumpster. The team concluded the strength of a "calm" grizzly is two-and-a-half to five times that of a human.
No animal of equal size is as powerful. A bear may kill a moose, an elk, or a deer by a single blow to the neck with a powerful foreleg, then lift the carcass in its mouth and carry it for great distances. "The strength... is in keeping with his size," describes Ben East in 'Bears'. "He is very powerfully built, a heavy skeleton overlaid with thick layers of muscle as strong as rawhide rope. He can hook his long, grizzly-like front claws under a slab of rock that three grown men could not lift, and flip it over almost effortlessly... a brown bear took a thousand-pound steer a half mile up an almost vertical mountain, much of the way through alder tangles with trunks three or four inches thick."
Strength and power are not only attributes of large bears but also of the young. The author observed a yearling American black bear searching for insects turn over a flat-shaped rock that was between 310 and 325 pounds "backhanded" with a single foreleg. The bear was captured the following day in a management action and was found to weigh only 120 pounds.
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