California State Mammal: Grizzly Bear

Nature, State Animals 4 Minutes

The grizzly bear is a kind of brown bear. Many people in North America use the common name “grizzly bear” to refer to the smaller and lighter-colored bear that occurs in interior areas and the term “brown bear” to refer to the larger and typically darker-colored bear in coastal areas. However, most of these bears are now considered the same subspecies.

Grizzly bears are large and range in color from very light tan (almost white) to dark brown. They have a dished face, short, rounded ears, and a large shoulder hump. The hump is where a mass of muscles attach to the bear’s backbone and give the bear additional strength for digging. They have very long claws on their front feet that also give them extra ability to dig after food and to dig their dens.

Grizzly bears weigh upward of 700 pounds. The males are heavier than the females and can weigh about 400 to 600 pounds. A large female can weigh about 250 to 350 pounds in the lower-48 States.

Diet

Grizzly bears are omnivores. The most commonly eaten kinds of plants are fleshy roots, fruits, berries, grasses, and forbs. If grizzly bears are on the hunt, their prey can include fish (especially salmon), rodents like ground squirrels, carrion, and hoofed animals like moose, elk, caribou, and deer. They are especially good at catching the young of these hoofed species. Grizzly bears can also target domestic animals like cattle and sheep and cause economically important losses for some ranchers. The National Wildlife Federation has a program on National Forest lands surrounding Yellowstone Park to prevent attacks on domestic livestock by purchasing the grazing allotments from ranchers.

Behavior

Grizzly bears use sounds, movement, and smells to communicate. They growl, moan, or grunt, especially when females are communicating with their young or during mating season when male bears can fight each other fiercely for the opportunity to mate with receptive females. Grizzly bears also rub their bodies on trees to scratch and to let other bears know they are there.

Life History

Winter can be very tough for many species of wildlife, because the season brings harsh weather and little food. Grizzly bears hibernate in warm dens during the winter to minimize energy expenditure at a time when natural foods are not available and to permit their tiny young to be born in a warm and secure environment. Throughout the summer and autumn, grizzly bears build up fat reserves by consuming as much food as they can find. In late fall or winter, the bears find a hillside and dig a hole to serve as their winter den. When inside the den, grizzly bears slow down their heart rate, reduce their temperature and metabolic activity, and live off stored fat reserves. Pregnant females give birth in the dens and nurse their cubs until they are large enough to venture outside in the spring as snow melts and new food become available.

Depending on the length of the winter season, grizzly bears can stay in their dens for up to seven months. They don’t even go to the bathroom during this time. Grizzly bear hibernation is not as deep of a sleep as some other hibernators, like bats or ground squirrels, and they will quickly wake up when disturbed. Females with newborn cubs are the last to leave their dens in the spring. Females with older cubs emerge earlier and solitary females and males are the first to exit dens in the spring. Pregnant females are the first to enter dens in the fall followed by females with cubs; solitary males enter dens the latest.

Grizzly bears begin to look for mates in the spring and early summer. Females can mate with more than one male during her breeding season. When a female grizzly becomes pregnant, the development of the embryo temporarily stops for several months, a process called “delayed implantation.” Delayed implantation is characteristic of all bear species and some other families of carnivores, including weasels and seals. If a female bear is unable to gain enough weight during the summer and fall, her body will tell her to not proceed with the pregnancy and the embryo will reabsorb. This gives her a head start on gaining enough weight to have a successful pregnancy the following year. When female grizzly bears enter hibernation, the embryo implants in her uterus and begins gestation. In January or February, female grizzly bears give birth to one to four cubs (usually two). The female will care for her young inside the den until spring, when they finally step out into the world.

The mother cares for her young for at least two more years, feeding and protecting them. When the cubs are two and a half years old, they typically separate from their mother. In areas with little food, the cubs may stay with their mother longer. Typically separation happens when the female enters breeding condition and attracts males, which can be a threat to the cubs. At around five years of age, grizzly bears reach sexual maturity.

Grizzly bears are mainly solitary and territorial, except for mothers and their cubs, or when a plentiful food source is discovered. Grizzly bears are known to congregate at rivers with many fish and at improperly fenced garbage dumps. Grizzlies can run pretty fast, reaching speeds as fast as 35 miles an hour for very short sprints. They are good swimmers too. Cubs can climb trees to evade danger, but they lose this ability as their front claws grow longer. Grizzly bears can live to be 30 years in the wild, but most die before age 25.

Fun Fact

Grizzly bears received their name because their brown fur can be tipped with white. This gives them a “grizzled” look, especially when backlit by the sun.

SOURCE: NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION

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Published by pat frederick

Published

95 thoughts on “California State Mammal: Grizzly Bear”

    1. Good morning! We’re already up to 44 w/bright sun but windy again. I don’t think I’ll be burning anything today due to the fire danger. I won’t be going to Norfolk until this afternoon around 1:30 or so.

      Liked by 1 person

  7. Liked by 1 person

  14. Liked by 1 person

    1. They’re cute in their own way but I would never, ever have a pug-nose dog. They frequently have serious breathing issues. And I can’t stand listening to them breath!

      Liked by 1 person

  16. deleting pubic records is a no no unless you’re a leftist doing something shady

    FTA

    WASHINGTON, DC – A year-long audit of public records conducted by RITE has produced overwhelming evidence that Clark County, NV, is violating the federal National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) by prematurely deleting records regarding its practices for canceling ineligible voters. The NVRA requires officials to retain these records for two years and make them available to the public upon request. Clark County has done neither and the county now faces litigation from RITE unless it immediately changes its practices and produces all available records responsive to RITE’s request.

    “RITE has identified a new disappearing act in Las Vegas, but this one is far less entertaining than a magician on the Strip. By all indications, Clark County is deleting nearly all election-related emails after six months, rather than retaining them for two years as required by federal law and state law. RITE has tried for months to resolve this and other document-related issues with the county, but its requests for an explanation have been ignored.”– Derek Lyons, President of RITE

    In its audit, RITE uncovered substantial evidence that Clark County has a policy of deleting much of its election-related email after six months, including emails about its administration of important programs to remove ineligible voters from the voter registration rolls. Federal and state law require the county to retain these records for at least two years. Further, because RITE has been able to secure some of Clark County’s emails from other sources, if Clark County has not deleted them, it has refused to make these records available to RITE upon request, which also violates the NVRA.

    https://riteusa.org/rite-spots-irregularities-with-clark-county-election-records-retention-recommends-steps-to-reach-compliance/

    Liked by 1 person

  20. could she sound more like a leftist if she tried? so congress has immunity…judges have immunity…but presidents–the head of the executive branch–a CO EQUAL BRANCH–should not have immunity.

    Troublemaker10

    March 1, 2024 9:05 am

    Nikki Haley calls for all Trump legal cases to be ‘dealt with’ before November

    Excerpt:

    “We need to know what’s going to happen before it, before the presidency happens, because after that, should he become president, I don’t think any of it’s going to get heard,” she continued….

    ….“I just think a president has to live according to the laws, too. You don’t get complete immunity,” she said, addressing the Supreme Court’s decision to take the case. She added that presidents should not get “free rein to do whatever they want to do.”

    https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/nikki-haley-calls-trump-legal-cases-dealt-november-rcna141276

    Liked by 1 person

    1. in case you don’t want to watch the video in the tweet…here’s the words above it
      KanekoaTheGreat
      @KanekoaTheGreat
      🚨NEW: @peterschweizer
      highlights Joe Biden’s foreign influence peddling scheme, emphasizing that America’s bribery laws include *family members* receiving money.

      “Are we really at the point in America where we’re going to say that the First Family of the United States can accept tens of millions of dollars from foreign adversaries—and it’s not a problem?”

      “They send five million here. They send another million there. And what Hunter Biden wants you to believe is they got nothing in return, but they kept sending money. That’s laughable. There’s no legitimate business purpose that he provided for this. There was no product. They brought no capital to the table. So it’s really a farce.”

      “Since when has Hunter Biden become a credible witness on this stuff? They’ve lied since 2018 when we first exposed this.”

      “The bottom line, and I think Republicans have to be reminded of this, America’s bribery laws are very clear. It does not matter if Joe Biden got a dime. If your family gets paid, and you perform policy actions in return for those funds, it is bribery every bit as much as if you got the money yourself.”

      Remember the @MarcoPolo501c3
      Report on the Biden Laptop, which extensively details dozens of examples of the Biden family and their business partners violating the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA).

      It’s crucial to understand that all the funds acquired by the Biden family from foreign adversaries were illegally obtained due to their failure to register under FARA.

      Liked by 1 person

  23. Hallelujah!!!

    “January 6th Defendants Get Their Day Before The Supreme Court”
    MIKE DAVIS
    MAR 1, 2024

    ENTIRE ARTICLE: “On April 16th, the Supreme Court will hear a case to determine whether the Biden Justice Department misused a federal criminal obstruct-of-justice statute to arrest and imprison Trump supporters on January 6th.
    https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/fischer-v-united-states/
    The Supreme Court will almost certainly reverse over 300 January 6th criminal charges or convictions before the end of June. But the damage is done: The Biden Justice Department has already wrongfully charged or imprisoned these January 6th protesters under its bogus, politicized, and malicious application of this post-Enron criminal statute. They’ve lost their reputations, jobs, livelihoods, fortune, liberty, friends. families, and even lives.

    Jack Smith also misused this post-Enron statute for half of his bogus and political January 6th case to arrest and charge Trump for objecting to the 2020 presidential election, an objection which is allowed by the Electoral Count Act of 1887 and the First Amendment. (Why didn’t Democrats—including Al Gore, John Kerry, and Hillary Clinton—go to prison for objecting to Republican wins in 1968, 2000, 2004, and 2016?)

    So half of Jack Smith’s January 6th case against Trump will almost certainly disappear before the end of June. And the week April 22nd, the Supreme Court will decide whether the President of the United States—like federal judges and Members of Congress—are immune from criminal prosecution for their official acts.

    Click to access 022824zr3_febh.pdf

    This is a very easy answer: Yes. Otherwise, the Court will allow the destruction of the presidency—and the country.

    Should Obama face execution for capital murder for ordering the drone strike on 2 Americans—including a minor? Should David Barron, Obama’s legal advisor and now a federal appellate judge, join Obama’s fate? Should Biden face criminal charges for his illegal release of violent criminal migrants into America—and their natural and probable rapes, murders, and other violent crimes?

    Should the Biden Justice Department prosecutors, along with partisan Democrat and cowardly Republican judges, go to prison for falsely charging and imprisoning January 6th protesters under a malicious reading of the post-Enron obstruct-of-justice criminal statute?

    Bottom Line: This is republic-ending lawfare. Let’s hope the Supreme Court has the wisdom and courage to stop it. Before it’s too late.”

    Liked by 1 person

  24. IMO, anyone should be allowed to post whatever they like on Social Media, except those sites with an express, targeted purpose which is known immediately when you land on the site. There do have to be some standards of decency. I can understand not allowing extreme profanity and obscene photographs but otherwise….if it offends you, scroll on by and don’t read it – easy solution! FREE SPEECH IS FREE SPEECH!!!

    Liked by 1 person

  25. BTW, still no response to my e-mail to PR but it still hasn’t bounced back so I’m choosing to take that as a good sign. She did say she was getting off of all social media so….

    Liked by 1 person

  29. “This is the kind of stupidity that takes this whole ‘cult of personality’ to the cliff and throws itself off of it. Honest to god – who the fuck would ever buy anything that was endorsed by this woman? The sad answer is tens of thousands if not millions of people would. Think about that and then remember that those same people vote also. That explains a lot, doesn’t it? Does to me, anyway…”

    Liked by 1 person

  32. Shipwreckedcrew Profile picture

    Shipwreckedcrew

    @shipwreckedcrew

    1h• 9 tweets • 2 min read •

    Read on X

    HUGE decision out of DC Circuit this morning saying the proceedings before Congress on Jan. 6 did not involve the “administration of justice” as that phrase is used in the Sentencing Guidelines.

    This will be moot if the SCOTUS throws out the 1512 count altogether in the Fischer.

    But this has been a MASSIVE point of conflict between defense counsel and the DOJ/Judges in sentencing J6 defendants on 1512 counts.

    That was the “go to” felony for DOJ early on, and the reason for that is the Govt was asking for — and getting “11” levels of enhancements.

    This is real “inside baseball” stuff, but here is how it worked.
    The “Base Offense” level for 1512 is “14”.

    The higher that number, the longer the recommended sentence.

    The Govt was asking for, and the Judges — except one — were giving two different enhancements to that “14”.

    Both enhancements involved interfering with the “due administration of justice”.

    An “8” level enhancement for violence.

    Another “3” level enhancement if proceedings were actually interfered with.

    The application of these two enhancements increased the offense level to 25.

    For someone with no criminal history, the recommended sentencing range for a Level 14 is 15-21 months.

    For someone with no criminal history, the recommended sentencing range for a Level 25 is 57-71 months.

    Difference is 1.5 years and over 5 years in prison.

    By pleading guilty, the range was lowered to 41-51 months for “acceptance of responsibility.”

    The Govt plea offers REQUIRED that defendants agree that the two sentencing enhancements apply.

    If a defendant refused he/she could go to trial where the convictions are nearly 100%.

    If the 1512 counts are throw out by SCOTUS, this will not matter because most of those defendants will be entitled to resentencing based on a calculation that doesn’t involve the two enhancements.

    But even if SCOTUS upholds the 1512 convictions, this ruling could require a huge number of cases to come back to District Court for resentencing — with the new sentences being much shorter than the sentences that were imposed.

    By my recollection, only one Judge ruled that these two enhancements did not apply because congressional proceedings did not involve the “Administration of Justice.” Every other judge engaged in various forms of linguistic gymnastics to twist the words to fit the facts.

    https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1763596827998429314.html?utm_campaign=topunroll

    Liked by 1 person

    1. That won’t help people like Brandon Straka who already served his time, paid whatever fines and is now being lambasted with lawsuits!!! MAKE THEM ALL WHOLE AGAIN!!!

      Liked by 1 person

  35. the burger wars are reigniting…LOL

    FTA

    On the heels of the kerfuffle over Wendy’s “price surge,” Burger King has one-upped its rival by handing out free Whoppers through Friday, March 1, the New York Post reports.

    Calling the deal “No Urge to Surge,” Burger King is giving customers who spend at least $3 through its “Offers” tab on the mobile app or website, a free Whopper or vegetarian Impossible Whopper.

    “The only thing surging at BK is the [flame emoji],” Burger King tweeted. “We don’t believe in charging people more when they’re hungry.”

    https://www.newsmax.com/finance/streettalk/burger-king-free-whopper/2024/02/29/id/1155428/

    Liked by 1 person

  38. Julie Kelly 🇺🇸

    @julie_kelly2

    43m• 5 tweets • 3 min read •

    Read on X

    LUNCH BREAK in Florida courtroom of Judge Cannon in classified documents case.

    President Trump arrived at 9:55 along with his attorneys and co-defendants.

    Special Counsel Jack Smith here too but did not speak during morning session.

    Judge Cannon appears unfazed by yet another historic hearing in her courtroom. She peppered Smith’s team with questions about timing of new trial date—DOJ asking for early July—and the VERY contentious issue about scope of prosecution team.

    At the outset, Judge Cannon stated the Special Counsel’s new proposed trial schedule (May 20 trial date will be vacated) leading to trial date of July 8 is “unrealistic” given at least 13 outstanding motions and intense CIPA litigation (special guidance on the handling/access to classified evidence before and during trial.)

    Another issue is Alvin Bragg’s prosecution of Trump later this month; trial is expected to begin March 25 and last between 6-8 weeks, interrupting Trump’s ability to attend any court proceedings in FLA for almost two months.

    When Smith’s team tried to blame Trump attorney Chris Kise for taking on both the Bragg case and the classified docs case and argued his work schedule related to both matters should not preclude the FLA trial from moving forward, Judge Cannon reminded DOJ that right to access all court proceedings doesn’t apply to the lawyers but “to the accused.”

    Much of the debate centered around the definition of the scope of the prosecution team.

    In January, Trump filed a lengthy motion detailing numerous government agencies including the Biden White House involved in the investigation and prosecution of the classified docs case.

    Agencies include NARA, DOJ, FBI HQ, the intelligence community, DOD, DOE and the other usual suspects.

    Contrary to public assertions and Jack Smith’s indictment, it appears NARA and DOJ and even the Biden White House general counsel were in cahoots as early as spring 2021 to concoct a documents charge against Trump.

    DOJ says FBI opened an investigation into mishandling of classified docs in March 2022 after NARA sent a criminal referral following the alleged discovery of files with “classified markings” in the 15 boxes Team Trump gave to NARA in Jan 2022.

    But the defense team has evidence–including emails and other records–to dispute that so they want an evidentiary hearing on the full scope of the prosecution team to determine which federal agencies or officials must meet Jencks, Giglio, and Brady discovery obligations.

    Smith’s team claims the only members of the prosecution team are their prosecutors, some agents/investigators from Washington FBI field office, and a few agents from Miami FBI field office.

    But Cannon pushed Jay Bratt, the lead prosecutor in classified docs case also involved in the investigation before Smith was appointed (he visited Mar-a-Lago with 3 FBI agents in June 2022) to admit at least 3 FBI officials from FBI HQ were involved as well.

    Smith is fighting not just the motion to compel discovery based on Trump’s scope of prosecution team but doesn’t even want Judge Cannon to hold an evidentiary hearing on the matter.

    And Bratt said very emphatically, “we need to bring this case to trial this summer.”

    Judge Cannon again sounded skeptical. “There is a lot of pretrial work that has to be done and it needs to be done properly and correctly.”

    The afternoon session should also be contentious as both sides argue about redactions and unsealing of evidence. Cannon repeatedly reminds DOJ about the need to make as much information accessible to the public and on several occasions has unsealed filings that Jack Smith wanted sealed.

    She ordered some records unsealed last month from the motion to compel but put her order on temporary hold pending Smith’s motion for reconsideration. He wants most of redacted passages and sealed exhibits in the motion to compel discovery to remain secret.

    Cannon is not so inclined so I am expecting some 🎇this afternoon.

    Again no devices allowed in courthouse (!!) so I will report back later.

    https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1763616176867803600.html

    Liked by 1 person

  41. I just got back – no decent pics – everything is so fricking drab right now! Nabbed some fresh watermelon wedges and raspberries – gotta get that stuff at HyVee since it’s fresher than WM. Also stocked up on suet blocks, WP blocks and 20 lbs. of bird seed. And a shit ton of creamer and yogurt! Temp was nice and the wind has finally dropped, thankfully. Huh…again, a small world. I think Glen’s Dad may have had my a-Mom as a teacher in grade school. He went to the same school anyway around the right age. I’m tellin’ ya’ – I can’t go anywhere around here and not run into someone who knows my family.

    Liked by 1 person

      1. I do enjoy it, making those connections. Back when I was running the Legion Club, there was an older couple that came on a fairly regular basis. When HB died and we went to the funeral home, she was there – she worked there! That made it much easier for me, having a familiar friendly face there.

        Liked by 1 person

      1. IKR? Seedless, nicely ripe….I’ll be tearing into that shortly, promise! It won’t last long, I’ll say that! LOL

        Liked by 1 person

  43. I am adding a short daily prayer to the board. I would invite each of you, if you wish, to also add one or maybe two of your own liking. I do not want to stifle anyone but please limit yourself to one or two religious postings. here’s one I found that I liked.

    Like

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