What Does a Bear Really Do In the Woods?

June 30, 2008 7:37 AM

Northern Divide Grizzly Bear Project ― the grizzly bear has had a threatened status for more than 30 years now. Several zones have been established in the northwestern U.S. and Canada to monitor recovery. Kate Kendall of the USGS led a project to investigate recovery through DNA monitoring of the bears. Since the funds dried up, Kate and her team have used remote cameras to capture some interesting footage of bears and other wildlife.
posted by netbros (9 comments total)

The videos of the bears rubbing on trees, for whatever reason, made me laugh. They look so strangely human when they're standing like that!

Interesting and fun, thanks for the post.
posted by dpx.mfx at 8:17 AM on June 30, 2008

Does a bear pole-dance in the woods?
posted by DU at 8:56 AM on June 30, 2008

These are strangely compelling, thanks!
posted by mygothlaundry at 9:02 AM on June 30, 2008

Please please please will someone set one of these to music?

It's pretty amazing - I can't decide if it's cool or disturbing or both - that we know so little about the largest carnivore on our continent. I'd like to see a bear in the wild sometime. I'd also like to see a mountain lion. I'd like to see them through binoculars, when they're on one side of a valley and I'm on the other, but I'd like to see them.

(And as long as I'm asking for stuff, in my next life, I'd like to come back as either: a) a domestic cat in a lesbian household; a brown pelican; or a wildlife biologist.)
posted by rtha at 9:02 AM on June 30, 2008

I love the bear film clips - hidden cameras are giving us such wonderful opportunities for close-up observations of wildlife - totally fascinating. I love the one where the bear is licking and pawing the camera.

Last night, I was just watching some of the hidden logcams and bouldercams employed by David Attenborough. Here's a promo for a bear special using hidden cameras - fun to see the footage, and fun to see the disguised cameras. And these clips of tigers were captured by hidden cameras that were deployed and positioned by elephants. The bottom clip of the monkeys is cute - apparently, the cameras attract a fair amount of attention, and some animals are attracted by their own reflection in the lens.
posted by madamjujujive at 9:36 AM on June 30, 2008 [2 favorites]

Kate appears in this nice film Saving the Grizzly, One Hair at a Time . . . check out the coagulated cattle blood, glycerin, and rotting fish they use to bait the bears at 05:50.
posted by huckhound at 10:00 AM on June 30, 2008 [2 favorites]

Nice film huck. Thanks much.
posted by netbros at 12:11 PM on June 30, 2008

Nice! Speaking of bear videos, check out:

Most. Annoying. Wolf. Ever.
posted by salvia at 10:31 PM on June 30, 2008

All that DNA study of bears yielded some interesting information, including the fact that a lot of size differentiation and color differentiation among bears appears to depend on diet, not speciation. Grizzlies are just ordinary old brown bears who grow large because they get plenty of protein (often from salmon, which is their favorite food when they can get it.)
posted by ikkyu2 at 9:11 AM on July 1, 2008