Gripping Grizzly Bear Facts
One of the largest bears in the world, the grizzly is the epitome of what you expect to come lumbering out of the trees in a forest. Living in North America, you will normally find the grizzly bear in and around Canada and Alaska.
I was lucky enough to see one when I was in Canada many years ago. I was only young, maybe six or seven years old. We were visiting family there and went to look around a national park in Calgary. As we were driving along, out of the forest came a huge grizzly bear, and plonked itself in the middle of the road. Amazing! It didn’t stay for long, but what a sight it was to behold.
I’m pretty sure not many people have seen a grizzly in the wild, and I feel fortunate to be able to say that I’m one of those people. Here are some facts about the grizzly bear that you may not be aware of –
Ultimate Fisherman
These bears don’t mess about with a net or a rod when it comes to catching fish. They take it back to basics baby! They simply use their claws to swipe them out of the water, and in the case of up stream swimming salmon, they actually catch them in their mouths as they jump up river! This takes quite a bit of practice, and many of the cubs who try this method end up falling into the river. Hilarious!
Wandering Minstrel
Many large animals tend to stick to their own patch, but not the grizzly bear. I guess when you are of that size and strength you can basically do whatever you like, whenever you like. After all, who’s going to stop you?! But these intrepid explorers love to just wander around, lumbering from place to place for many hours of the day. Don’t be fooled by their relaxed gate either, these bad boys can reach speeds of up to 30 miles per hour when they need to!
Power House
As you can imagine, the grizzly bear has tremendous strength. The hump in the middle of it’s shoulders is actually a huge muscle, and this is where they gain most of their strength. They can grow up to 8 feet tall, and weigh up to a whopping 1000 pounds. They also have 4-inch retraceable claws that are razor sharp which are great for digging, and of course eating and fighting. The grizzly bear will fight other bears during the mating season over a female. They spend the majority of their lives alone, and they like it that way.
The grizzly bear is one of the biggest creatures on the planet, and definitely one of the baddest! It may look like a chilled out, cuddly creature, but if you get them riled, man, have you got a problem!