GRIZZY BEARS!!!!!

1.      The word "grizzly" in its name refers to "grizzled" or grey hairs in its fur, but when naturalist George Ord formally named the bear in 1815, he misunderstood the word as "grisly".

2.      The grizzly bear is a subspecies of the brown bear.

3.      A pronounced muscular hump occurs on their shoulders which strengthens their front limbs for digging and running.

4.      Grizzlies can attain a speed of about 35 mph.

5.      Once mated with a male in the summer, the female delays embryo implantation until hibernation.

6.      On average, females produce two cubs in a litter^[10] and the mother cares for the cubs for up to two years, during which the mother will not mate.

7.      Although grizzlies are of the order Carnivora and have the digestive system of carnivores, they are actually omnivores, since their diet consists of both plants and animals.

8.      In preparation for winter, bears can gain approximately 400 lb (180 kg), during a period of hyperphagia, before going into false hibernation.

9.      The bear often waits for a substantial snowstorm before it enters its den: such behaviour lessens the chances that predators will find the den. The dens are typically at elevations above 6,000 feet (1,800 m) on north-facing slopes.

10.  Once the young leave or are killed, females may not produce another litter for three or more years, depending on environmental conditions.

 CORKY!!

Elk (Cervus elaphus)

      1)     Bull = Male adult; Cow = Female adult; Calf = baby; Spike = Yearling male

2)     Calves are Typically born in late May through early June and are born spotted and scentless

3)     An elks diet consists mostly of grasses, forbs, shrubs, tree bark, and twigs

4)     An elk's stomach has four chambers: the first stores food, and the other three digest it

5)     Antlers = Only male elk have antlers; Bulls shed and grow a new set of antlers every year; New antlers are covered in fuzzy skin called velvet; Antlers harden by late summer and the velvet peels away; By September, antlers are solid bone; A set of antlers on a mature bull can weigh up to 40 pounds

6)     Ivories = An elk's top two canine teeth are called ivories; Scientists believe ivories are remnants of saber-like tusks that ancestral species of elk used in combat; Most hunters save ivories as a memento of the hunt.

7)     In the winter, Elk grow winter coats consisting of long, waterproof guard hairs covering dense, woolly underfur and bed down in the trees at night to seek shelter from wind and cold temperatures.

8)     When alarmed, elk raise their heads high, open their eyes wide, move stiffly and rotate their ears to listen and threaten each other by curling back their upper lip, grinding their teeth and hissing softly.

9)     Agitated elk hold their heads high, lay their ears back and flare their nostrils, and sometimes even punch with their front hooves

10)  Breeding season is called “Rut” and happens in fall.  Bulls will wallow in mud to coat themselves with "perfume" to attract cows and will sometimes battle for a cow, occasionally even fighting to the death

***Picture below shows a Bull Elk (male adult) standing with a group of deer.  As you can see, elk are much bigger!

Bison

Bison (Bison bison)

1. Also known as the American buffalo (although it isn't related to the true buffalo).
2. Due to their large size few predators attack bison. However, wolf packs can take down a bison. There are even documented cases of a single wolf taking down bison
3. The bison's main food is grass.
4. The rutting, or mating, season lasts from June through September with peak activity in July and August. At this time, the older bulls rejoin the herd and fights often take place between bulls.
5. They can move at speeds of up to thirty-five miles per hour and cover long distances at a lumbering gallop.
6. Their most obvious weapons are the horns borne by both males and females. But their massive heads can be used as battering rams, effectively using the momentum produced by two thousand pounds moving at thirty miles per hour.
7. At the time bison ran wild, they were rated second only to the Alaska brown bear as a potential killer, more dangerous than the grizzly bear.
8. Wallowing is a common behavior of bison. A bison wallow is a shallow depression in the soil, either wet or dry. Bison roll in these depressions, covering themselves with mud or dust. Possible explanations suggested for wallowing behavior include grooming behavior associated with moulting, male-male interaction, social behavior for group cohesion, play behavior, relief from skin irritation due to biting insects, and thermoregulation.
9. During the population bottleneck, American bison were interbred with domestic cattle. Accidental crossings were also known to occur. Generally male domestic bulls were crossed with buffalo cows producing offspring of which only the females were fertile.
10. Some cattle breeds are also partly bison, for instance, Beefalo