PLEASE READ THE FULL DESCRIPTION BEFORE EMBARKING ON THIS VIRTUAL.
The grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) may have gotten its name from a couple of explorers who described them as "grisley". This could be interpreted as "grizzly", having grey or silver tipped hair. Or "grisly", fear inspiring. They are sometimes referred to as Brown bears. Originating in Russia and Aisa, they migrated to North America about 50,000 years ago. While once inhabiting parts of Mexico, most subspecies have vanished and now can only be found as far south as the north western States. British Columbia is home to about 15,000 grizzlies, over half of the Canadian poupulation. Alaska has about 30,000 of them.
Female grizzlies usually weigh in between 300-400 lbs. Males average 400-800 lbs. The inland grizzlies tend to be smaller than the coastal bears. Newborns weigh about one pound. For the most part, the grizzly is brown but comes in different shades depending on the area it inhabits. They may also have some black or blonde.
Black bears inhabit most of Canada and alot of the USA. Now, they are not always black in colour. In fact, I tend to see more brown coloured black bears (aka cinnamon bears) in my area. Here are a few ways to distinguish the two species.
- Grizzlies will have a hump between their shoulders whereas Blacks will not.
- Grizzlies have a rounder, set in face where a Black bear has a straight pronounced face and nose.
- A Grizzly has the classic short, round "teddy bear" ears. A Black bear has longer ears.
-A Grizzly's bum is lower than its shoulders and a Black's is higher.
- Grizzlies have much longer front claws than a Black bear does.
Most grizzly bears will hibernate about half of their life. They will choose a safe place to make a den and bulk up on weight. When the first winter storm arrives, they will den up until spring. Males will usually emerge before the females. There have been some reports of bears in Yellowstone that have skipped hibernation. This would be due to an abundance of year round food.
If you manage to see a bear in the wild, please keep a good safe distance. If you are planning to head into the bush, try to make yourself bear aware. Here are some tips to help keep you safe.
If you encounter a bear:
Stay calm
If the bear sees you, talk in a low, calm voice and then, regardless if it has seen you or not,
Back up slowly
Never turn your back on a bear, or run. Running could trigger an attack.
Do not stare
The bear will see a direct stare as a challenge.
Give it space
Make sure it has a way to get away, and that you are not blocking access to a bear’s cubs or its food.
If a bear approaches you or charges:
Do not run!
Use your bear spray as it approaches
Don't have bear spray?
- Stand Tall I can't say from experience but I have seen video of a hiker being charged by a Grizzly and standing tall, arms above in a Y formation and turning slightly away from the bear. The Grizzly then stopped the charge and he stepped away while he kept an eye on the bear. https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6uiymp.
Play dead or fight back
- Defensive attack
Usually, bears charge or attack because they are feeling threatened. Use your bear spray. If you don’t have bear spray and the bear makes contact with you – roll on your stomach, cover the back of your neck, remain still and play dead, they will lose interest and leave. Do NOT run!
- Predatory attack
In rare cases, a bear may see a human as prey and stalk you along a trail. In these cases, try to escape into a building, car or up a tree. If you cannot escape and the bear charges, use your bear spray, lacking that, use anything at your disposal to fight off the bear (rocks, sticks, hiking poles).
LOGGING REQUIREMENTS please read the requirements and follow the instructions exactly. Found it logs without both of the required pictures will be deleted as well as any that have not emailed me the correct answers to all five questions.
PHOTOS
You will be required to post 2 pictures in your Found It log. The Geocaching app does not allow you to upload more than one picture to your Found It log. You must login online to the actual website in order to upload both pictures to your Found It log. Group photos are permitted providing each geocacher's name is visible in the picture on a piece of paper and posted to each individual found it log. Photos can also be taken with your GPS or your mascot. Whatever you choose to use within the pictures, please make sure it matches both pictures. When taking the photos, please take care not to include any spoiler information to the questions (Write ups). Please view the photo gallery for some examples of what I am looking for.
QUESTIONS
Each cacher will be required to send me their own answers. I prefer you to send me your 5 answers first. Then feel free to log in your find immediately after. At the two Bear waypoints, there is a write up of each of them. You will have to read through them in order to answer some of the questions.
1: After you have read both of them, please tell me 2 things that these grizzlies have in common with each other.
SMITHERS REGIONAL AIRPORT BEAR: Hours of operation are 6:30am-8:00pm daily.
The grizzly bear in question is within public access of the Smithers Terminal and is easy to spot. There is absolutely no reason to enter any restricted areas! For example: passing through security checks, climbing chain link fences, through locked gates or doors. There is no physical container here. Please take only a picture of yourself, your GPS or your mascot in front of the grizzly along with a piece of paper with your geocaching name and the date you visited. In addition to the picture, please answer the following questions:
2: At the parking coords, who provided you free parking? (Pick one)
3: There is a write up of the Grizzly on the display. Please provide the names of the two officers involved with this bear.
HOUSTON INFO CENTRE BEAR: Available 24/7. Access to the bear is from outside.
Again, please take only a picture of yourself, your GPS or your mascot in front of the grizzly along with a piece of paper with your geocaching name and the date you visited. In addition to the picture, please answer the following questions:
4: Outside the info centre, on the porch wall and to the left of the doors, you will pass by a hydro metre on your way to the bear. Please provide me the serial number of the metre (right below the bar code). Please view the photo gallery to see the metre in question.
5: What geographical area did this bear spend alot of its life?
Congratulations to The_Four_Fínders on FTF ! ! !
Virtual Rewards 3.0 - 2022-2023
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between March 1, 2022 and March 1, 2023. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 3.0 on the Geocaching Blog.