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Ed Matusik
| Joined: | Fri Apr 6th, 2012 |
| Location: | Pennsylvania USA |
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Great pose. There seems to be a lot of black to their coat.
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Eric
| Joined: | Thu Apr 19th, 2012 |
| Location: | United Kingdom |
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Ed Matusik wrote:
Great pose. There seems to be a lot of black to their coat.
He was scent marking the rock. I have a series of different rolling and rubbing poses but he sat up for a moment and I happened to get a lucky shot.
There is a lot of colour variation in the 'brown' bear.
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Ed Matusik
| Joined: | Fri Apr 6th, 2012 |
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Eric wrote: Ed Matusik wrote:
Great pose. There seems to be a lot of black to their coat.
He was scent marking the rock. I have a series of different rolling and rubbing poses but he sat up for a moment and I happened to get a lucky shot.
There is a lot of colour variation in the 'brown' bear.
Yes, Kodiak bears show a range of coat colors from deep chocolate brown to almost blond. There is one subspecies on Admiralty island named the 'Shiras' bear, that is coal black. I'd like to see your other photos of the animal.
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jk
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Where was this taken Eric ?
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Eric
| Joined: | Thu Apr 19th, 2012 |
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jk wrote: Where was this taken Eric ?
Sorry for the delay JK been busy since coming home....I could do with a holiday! Eastern Germany.
Ive added another for you Ed...will dig out some more when I get a minute.
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Ed Matusik
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Thanks Eric. This one is really short-faced and rough-coated. Not wanting to tell you more than you would like to know, but the European brown bear and the American brown/grizzly bear are the same specie. I've never seen one in Alaska or the lower 48 or Canada grizzlies that short faced though. - EdM
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Eric
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Ed Matusik wrote: Thanks Eric. This one is really short-faced and rough-coated. Not wanting to tell you more than you would like to know, but the European brown bear and the American brown/grizzly bear are the same specie. I've never seen one in Alaska or the lower 48 or Canada grizzlies that short faced though. - EdM
Yes I did know that they were the same species...but I was surprised to read that the european brown bear was generally bigger than its grizzly brother? I thought grizzlies were the big daddies?
But these two were very big enough for my eyes even at distance!!
Fortunately 300mm on a DX camera (and a bit of cropping) made them look closer.
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Ed Matusik
| Joined: | Fri Apr 6th, 2012 |
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No, the grizzlies are generally much smaller than either the European or North American brown bears. It's really just a matter of definition and food supply. If a bear (other than a black bear) lives along the pacific coast, it is, by an arbitrary definition, a brown bear. The same bear, should it cross over the coastal ranges would, again by definition, be called a grizzly. Coastal bears have access to a rich food supply, while inland bears have a more limited source of provender (which also makes them more hair-triggered than brownies). It's been shown that all bears continue to gain weight and get larger throughout their life, so better fed bears are bigger bears. There are actually some black bears that are larger than grizzlies.
When my wife Jean and I wander among the Kodiak island bears, we seldom encounter aggressive behaviour, but we would never dream of approaching an inland grizzly in a similar fashion. That's not to say that the Kodiaks are pussy cats, we have had some unpleasant experiences with individal animals of both sexes. - EdM
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Eric
| Joined: | Thu Apr 19th, 2012 |
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Ed Matusik wrote: No, the grizzlies are generally much smaller than either the European or North American brown bears. It's really just a matter of definition and food supply. If a bear (other than a black bear) lives along the pacific coast, it is, by an arbitrary definition, a brown bear. The same bear, should it cross over the coastal ranges would, again by definition, be called a grizzly. Coastal bears have access to a rich food supply, while inland bears have a more limited source of provender (which also makes them more hair-triggered than brownies). It's been shown that all bears continue to gain weight and get larger throughout their life, so better fed bears are bigger bears. There are actually some black bears that are larger than grizzlies.
When my wife Jean and I wander among the Kodiak island bears, we seldom encounter aggressive behaviour, but we would never dream of approaching an inland grizzly in a similar fashion. That's not to say that the Kodiaks are pussy cats, we have had some unpleasant experiences with individal animals of both sexes. - EdM
Thanks - that's a very interesting insight.
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