Rolling Bear: The Main Danger of the Winter Forest (11 photos)

Everyone was told as a child that brown bears hibernate in winter. Bad news, ladies and gentlemen: you have been shamelessly lied to. Because they do not hibernate, but rather sleep. And the difference is colossal. This means that every inattentive traveler in winter can awaken the most terrible forest evil - the brown bear.





In simple terms, hibernation, also known as hibernation, is much deeper than winter sleep. Metabolism slows down much more during hibernation, and it is much easier to bring an animal out of hibernation. In fact, winter sleep is really like sleep, albeit a very long one. For us, daring and stupid people, it is important that it is very easy to wake up a bear.



Pet him, don't be afraid, he just wants to play! (c)

And "just" - how is that? Well, for example, if you walk near his den in late autumn or early winter, when the bear's sleep is not yet too deep. If you shoot a gun or scream songs like crazy. Or if your dog has found the entrance to the den of the sleeping Mikhail Potapych and loudly barks about it. And besides everything else, there is a real possibility of falling through the snow right on the head of a sleeping animal. Believe me, none of you will be delighted about this.





Would you be happy if some random guy sneaked into your bedroom? That's right!

There are also natural reasons why bears can't sleep. For example, malnutrition. By winter, every self-respecting clubfoot should consist of 15-40% fat. Almost all of the reserves will go to the needs of the body during winter sleep. Didn't have time to accumulate excess calories? Get insomnia!



Such a bear will most likely not survive the winter, alas.

A thaw is another reason why a bear wakes up. There is a malfunction in the animal's body: an increase in temperature = time to wake up. But in mid-December there is no hint of spring. It is in this winter month that thaws occur most often.



Not everywhere bears go to hibernation in the fall. For example, in Kamchatka, due to the abundance of fish, bears feed on it until December! And some males go to sleep only in January.

It turns out that a connecting rod is not such a rare thing in winter. If the animal wakes up earlier than required, of course, it will be hungry, sleep-deprived, angry and super dangerous. When hungry, a bear is ready to eat not only a person - even clay! Connecting rods dig the ground, dig up this very clay and fill their belly with at least it. And this means that traces of the work of a brown mole in a winter forest are a very dangerous sign.



Your face when you wake up at night and there is no more clay in the refrigerator.

Also, a bear that has been awakened will most likely not return to a full winter sleep, so it will live according to a standard summer regime: activity during the day, sleep at night. And it will most likely sleep in different places every night. Broken branches and bushes in places where bears lie can also be a danger signal for humans. But most importantly, awakened bears often come to shift workers' camps and other human habitations. Foresters even say that bears like to set up ambushes along trails. Accordingly, if you see a bear track that ends abruptly nearby, it's bad.



This is exactly why you should NEVER feed a bear. A smart animal will quickly remember that there is food in the settlement. And when you stop feeding the bear, you yourself will become an excellent snack!

"Okay, smart guy, signs are good. But what should I do if I see the main sign nearby - a bear?" - you ask. And I will answer you. I am a smart guy. Make loud sounds. Now it is possible and even necessary. Bang cans, jars, shoot in the air (NOT at the bear - this is important), if you have a firearm. You can scream loudly. But here's a nuance. Some foresters do not advise doing this, because they believe that it can anger the animal. We are waiting for expert foresters who have already saved themselves from bears in the taiga 15 times in this way, in the comments.



Who are you? I didn't call you. Come closer...

The main goal is to pretend that you are big: open your clothes, raise your arms up or spread them wide. In the wild, there is an unspoken rule: if you are big, it is better not to mess with you. You can carefully back away, slowly breaking the distance. The further you are from each other, the better.



From the bear's point of view, a person is bigger than it. After all, even a large bear's height at the withers is no more than 1.2 meters.

And then the smart guy will tell you what NOT to do! You can't run. The bear is still faster if it needs to. It accelerates to 50 km/h. And don't turn your back to the beast either. He'll think you're afraid of him (he'll think rightly) and chase you like easy prey. And, of course, you shouldn't let the bear out of your sight. You should be able to react to his actions in time.



Ahahaha, stop it, you're so funny when you try to run away from me!

Playing dead or climbing a tree are not the wisest ideas. The bear is a curious animal. He'll just be interested in playing with a strange creature with his paw that doesn't move and smells like poop. Oh yeah. It is not recommended to shoot directly at the bear, because you will not kill it, but the bear will be in pain and will be very angry with you.



Hey, I did not order dinner to go!

I can also add on my own behalf that if you meet a bear near your car or home, then the option of "running with the bear to the shelter in a race" is still worth considering. If you are sure that you will run first and have time to hide - run. The author-smart one of his friends actually saved herself this way.