Friday, 05 October 2007

• Currently Reading The World of the Polar Bear see related

  Friday Ark - Polar Bears

  
  

  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  

  Polar Bears (Ursus maritimus) are a very distant cousin to Cats.  I know that sounds funny, but it true.  All Bears, Cats and Dogs beans decended from the same animal millions of years ago.

  Raccoons were part of that group too, and the raccoons diverged from the bears about 30 millions years ago, so it was even longer than that when we were all related.  The current six diffent species of bears originated some 4 million years ago.

  Polar Bears are very special type of bear that live in the Artic where it is always cold.  Their skin is black but it's fur is hollow and translucent so it appears white.  It provides the bear with camouflage, as it lives in areas that are always white with snow and it also helps to insulate the bear against the cold.

  Much like Cats, Bears are carnivores, meaning they eat meat. The live mainly on seals, walruses and whales, but they will eat anything it can kill, and that includes humans (and Cats!)  They can be very agressive to humans when they share the same range.

  Males weight twice as much as a Siberian Tiger, up to 1,320 pounds, and can measure almost 7 gizzies in length (what humans would think of as 10 feet).

  These bears like the water a lot and are excellent swimmers and as a result are classed as marine mammals, even though they often roam on the land as well.

  Polar Bears are listed as vulnerable by the World Conservation Union, which is one of the three sub-catagories of threatened status.  (Humans must greatly complicate things with catagories and sub-catagories.)  It is easier to say that their population is declining and as a result they are protected by law from human hunting.

  You can find out much more at about Polar Bears at Polar Bears International website.  There are webcams there where you can watch Polar Bears and a gift shop to buy things with images of Polar Bears on them.

  The Polar Bears in these pictures were taken at the Buffalo Zoo by my Bean.  At least, she think it was Buffalo Zoo, as it does not look like displays at either the Cleveland or the Miami Zoos, and Buffalo was the only other one she's been to recently.

  Polar Bears do not live in Florida except at zoos, which have developed special habitats for them to help keep them cool in the very hot sun of Florida.  They could not survive here without the special habitats the zoos offer.

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  Another kind of Animal, the 2007-08 version of the Florida Panthers hockey team make they debute last night.  The Panthers did not prove to be very good at pouncing on the puck.  They lose 33 of 56 opportunities to pounce on the puck, including all 14 opportunties they face in the first period.  They also had a solving the Rangers puck stopper, who stopped 27 pucks and only let 2 get by.  As a result my Panthers did not win and were beaten 5-2 by the New York Rangers.

  So, I am not really a happy kitty today.

  The Panthers will take travel back to Florida today from New York and they will also practice at pouncing on the puck, in the hopes that they will have better luck Friday against the New Jersey Devils.  I am going to be a little devil for Howl-a-ween (Howl & Scream?) but I am not going to cheer for that New Jersey team.  I know that my Panthers will do much better on Saturday night, even if I have to go show them how to pounce on the puck myself.

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