The Lives of Wolves

Wolves are pretty mysterious animals... here are some interesting and impressive facts about you might not have known.
*Weighing only 80-100 pounds, wolves have been known to join together and take down a bison or grizzly weighing around 1,500 pounds!

*The size of the pack (group of wolves that hunt together) is often proportionate to the size of the prey.  One pack in Yellowstone has as many as 35 individuals.

*Wolves have scent glands between their toes and are often scratching at the ground to deposit the scent.  This is used to mark territory and can last 2-3 weeks.

*Howling coincides with scent marking to show territory.  When wolves howl, they are vocally letting other wolves know that they are occupying an area and are willing to defend it if necessary.

*Howling is also used when trying to find a lost member of the pack.  Wolves from other packs rarely answer another tribe’s howl.

*Facial Expressions
        Happy - head is up; ears are forward; eyes are open wide; lips are relaxed in a smile
        Angry - head is down; ears are back; eyes are narrowed; lips pulled back to reveal teeth

*Wolves have tremendous jaw pressure and can exert as much as 1,500 pounds of pressure per square inch! That being said, it's no surprise they are able to bite clean through, say a deer, rib and grind it with in seconds.

*Wolves are able to smell their preys scent up to a mile away and can hear a pack mates howl up to 10 miles away in an open habitat.

*For a short distance, wolves are able to run up to 45 mph

Look at how fast we grow!!

The weights for this years cubs are in!!!!

Now remember... Black bear cubs are born between early January and early February.  Newborn cubs are blind, hairless, and weigh about half a pound and are about the size of a stick of butter!

		Weights (lbs.oz)
Cubs	Pull week	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4
1	5.1O	7.5	9.7	11.1
2	5.14	7.1	8.13	10.9
3	5.1	6.8	7.5	8.8
4	4.15	5.11	7.9	9.2
5	5.2	6.3	7.4	9.8
6	5	6.14	8.14	9.8
7	3.14	5.1	7.12	9.5
8	3.12	5	7.14	9.4
9	5.7	7.8	9.2	11.7
10	5.9	7.5	9.11	11.6
11	3	4.7	6.9	9
12	3.6	4.8	6.13	9.1
13	3.5	4.11	6.13	8
14	3.7	5	7.8	9.7

Bear Word Scramble

(Unscramble the letters to learn some fun bear facts.

1. A female bear is called a WSO
2. A male bear is called a RABO
3. A group of bears is called a LHSOT
4. A cub fo the years is called a YCO
5. The period of winter dormancy is called NSHBRTIENO
6. A bear eats both plants and animals and it therefore an EIOMVONR
7. Sounds that bears make to communicate are AVICOLNAZITOS
8. An increase in food intake beyond the normal amount is called YGHARPHEAPI
   
   

   

   
   ANSWERS!
   
   

   1. SOW
   2. BOAR
   3. SLOTH
   4. COY
   5. HIBERNATION
   6. OMNIVORE
   7. VOCALIZATIONS
   8. HYPERPHAGIA

Voca-bear-lary

All the answers contain the letters b-e-a-r

1. Take into account or having remembered.
2. Hair growing on the lower part of a man's face.
3. Causing, predicting, or expecting a fall, as in the prices on the stock exchange.
4. A rich sauce containing egg yolks, butter, vinegar, and tarragon.
5. So unpleasant, distasteful, or painful as to be intolerable.
6. The practice of setting dogs in a chained bear.
7. A shrub native to North America and Eurasia, having small leathery leaves, white or pinkish urn-shaped flowers, and red berrylike fruits. Also called kinnikinnick.
8. Acting in a dictatorial manner, arrogant, domineering.
9. One of several funeral participants who help carry the casket of a deceased person.
10. Also known as a bodylock, this is a grappling term in wrestling for a clinch hold and stand-up grappling position where the arms are wrapped around the opponent, either around eh opponent’s chest, midsection, or thighs; sometimes with one or both of the opponents arms pinned to the opponents body.
    
    
    And the answers are.........
    
    

    1. bear in mind
    2. beard
    3. bearish
    4. Bearnaise sauce
    5. unbearable
    6. bearbaiting
    7. bearberry
    8. overbearing
    9. pallbearer
    10. bear hug

        Thanks for playing!!!!

        
        

    Trivia from "Bear-ology" by Sylvia Dolson

Cold weather, Christmas nearing... lets make some COOKIES!

Bear Drop Cookies

1 cup butter                                     3 teaspoons baking soda

1 cup peanut butter                         3 eggs

1 cup brown sugar                         1 cup coconut

1 cup white sugar                           1 cup raisins

1 cup flour                                     1 cup chopped nuts

1 cup quick cooking oats               1 cup chocolate chips

Mix together all ingredients. Drop heaping teaspoons of batter onto greased cookie sheet, leaving sufficient space between drops. Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes. Makes 4 dozen.

Recipe from "Bear-ology" by Sylvia Dolson

What a Hard Life!

Why do bears hibernate?  It is a method to conserve energy when weather conditions are bad and food is scarce.  (Bears that live in warm climates often don't hibernate at all!)

During the months before hibernation, bears eat up to 20,000 calories a day and can put on up to 30 pounds of body fat to get them through the winter!

Black bears enter their dens in November. 

Hibernation in black bears typically lasts 3–5 months.

During this time, their heart rate drops from 40–50 beats per minute to 8 beats per minute.

A special hormone, leptin is released into their systems, to suppress appetite.

Because they do not urinate or defecate in the den, the nitrogen waste from the bear's body is recycled back into their proteins. (This also prevents muscle loss, as the process uses the waste products to build muscle during the long periods of inactivity.)

Their body temperature, however, does not drop significantly and they remain somewhat alert and active. (If the winter is mild enough, they may wake up and forage for food.)

Females give birth in February and nurture their cubs until the snow melts.

The footpads peel off while they sleep, making room for new tissue.

After emerging from their winter dens in spring, they wander their territories for two weeks so that their metabolism accustoms itself to the activity.

**So everyone practice being a bear this winter and make sure to get a couple good naps in!  

What's up with the "rut"?

You may have heard the term "rut" before and wondered what that world means, exactly. Well, let me just give you a little insight!

Rut = mating season of ruminant animals such as deer, sheep, elk, moose, ibex, goats, pronghorn and Asian and African antelope.
The rut in many species is triggered by a shortening of the length of daylight hours each day. The timing of the rut for different species depends on the length of their gestation period (length of pregnancy), usually occurring so the young are born in the spring, shortly after new green growth has appeared (which provides food for the females, allowing them to provide milk for the young), and when the temperatures are warm enough that the young will not die.

ELK
The gestation period for an elk is 240 to 262 days, therefore, they are starting to show "rut" activity now.  During this time...
   * mature bulls compete for the attentions of the cows and will try to defend females in their harem (group of females)
   *A bull will defend his harem of 20 cows or more from competing bulls and predators.
   * Rival bulls challenge opponents by bellowing and by paralleling each other, walking back and forth
   * If neither bull backs down, they engage in antler wrestling.
   *Bulls will vocalize in loud screams known as bugling, which can be heard for miles and are most commonly heard early and late in the day.
   * Females are attracted to the males that bugle more often and have the loudest call.


 
** Antler Wrestling
** To hear an elk bugle, visit   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYzWmKlZtrU