Facing the Ultimate Bear
March 29, 2007Veronica Green - Research
What would I do if I came face to face with an ultimate bear? As part of National Geographic’s research team I got to view Explorer Ultimate Bear. This program lets you check out some of the worlds largest and also most ferocious predators: the polar bear, the black bear and the brown bear. And you even get to see a man face off with a real bear. Native to North America, these creatures can weigh more than 1,000 pounds and are capable of killing prey with a single swipe of the paw.
I have a new appreciation of bears as strong and stealthy athletes. In fact, the show featured a bear in Montana moving a 700 lb dumpster! It was incredible to see this lumbering animal stand upright and use his front paws to maneuver the giant object as if he were part of a hired moving crew. If a bear smells food it will use its strength to get rid of anything, regardless of the size, to get to its next meal.
Another great segment features a man who works with these giants for a living. A trained animal expert is shown wrestling with an actual grizzly as if he were part of the species himself. He describes how the bear’s weight feels like its “crushing” his spine as he struggles on the ground with the beast. Also, the expert wears a camera inside of his helmet to get as close as possible to the action. Every one of the bear’s movements and sounds are captured. The key is to remember that in this demonstration the bear is well trained and therefore will not use his force to kill as he wrestles. It made me imagine how deadly a rumble with a grizzly in the wild would be. There would be no way somebody could survive such an encounter! Ultimate Bear gave me a firsthand look at the mechanics behind a bear’s strength. In addition, I was able to imagine the amount of damage that this brute force could cause.
Comments (6)
If it is a grizzly bear play dead, it will not think of you as a suitable meal.
Posted by Lauren | April 15, 2007 11:13 AM
Lauren:
If it is a grizzly bear play dead, it will not think of you as a suitable meal.
This is a common misconception.You are just NOT food period. You are not even a real threat.If a grizzly attacks, you are too close. "Playing dead" is just a passive response to his dominance. He will avoid you at all costs excepting when her cubs are around. A BLACK bear on the other hand is far more dangerous.
Posted by Tom Harris | April 16, 2007 9:12 AM
I thought the Grizzly bear was far more dangerous!?
Posted by Merina Butler | June 10, 2007 2:27 PM
It all depends on the situation .Regardless of what the so called experts say I can tell you from years of living and interacting with these animals there are so many factors such as time of year ,enviroment and many other factors.Black bears most times appear larger and aggressive will turn them grizzly I have had personal experience of avoiding eye contact and slowly backing away is also a good way to react not just automatically drop on ground where they will sometimes come to investigate you.I love animals ,but sometimes t.v. gives wrong impressions than people that have spent lifetimeswith nature.
Posted by Johnie | July 20, 2007 8:04 PM
It all depends on the situation .Regardless of what the so called experts say I can tell you from years of living and interacting with these animals there are so many factors such as time of year ,enviroment and many other factors.Black bears most times appear larger and aggressive will turn them grizzly I have had personal experience of avoiding eye contact and slowly backing away is also a good way to react not just automatically drop on ground where they will sometimes come to investigate you.I love animals ,but sometimes t.v. gives wrong impressions than people that have spent lifetimeswith nature.
Posted by Johnie | July 20, 2007 8:04 PM
I was once again scraping my jaw off the floor when I heard them refer to BEAR spray as mace. I believe even Tom Smith, who should absolutely know better, said it after we hear the guy who was almost mauled say it. It is irresponsible for NG to okay editing in something this serious. They could get someone killed. It is hard enough to teach people to use the proper protocol around bears without a TV show screwing it all up. Now, let's suppose someone decides to go to a national park and stops at the store and buys himself a can a mace. Let's say that same guy decides to go out for a back country get away and runs into a bear, who's been hit one too many times on the ass with a rubber bullet,and he pulls out his can of mace. Bu-bye national park visitor. Maybe he will get lucky and have a run in with the bear who famously just likes to knock people's eyes out of their heads. Hey, but he learned it from the pros, the experts, that mace keeps bears at bay.
COUNTER ASSAULT BEAR DETERANT
Posted by BEAR spray | November 22, 2007 7:19 PM