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| Grizzlies foraging; Source: Wikimedia Commons |
The Shoshone Indians tell a story about a fight between a grey grizzly bear and a black bear. Some people think that there used to be polar bears in Idaho because Lewis and Clark reported seeing them.
In April 1805, Captain Lewis wrote in his journal:
"We...found many tracks of the white bear of enormous size, along the river shore and about the carcasses of the buffalo, on which I presume they feed. We have not as yet seen one of these animals, though their tracks are so abundant and recent...The Indians give a very formidable account of the strength and ferocity of this animal, which they never dare to attack but in parties of six, eight, or ten persons, and are even then requently defeated with the loss of one or more of their party" (Animals on the trail with Lewis and Clark by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent.)
Did grizzlies interbreed with polar bears as far south as Idaho?
Not necessarily. As you can see by this picture, the way the light shines on the bears' coats makes it look like a shade of grey.
Another example of a "grey grizzly" here:
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| Source: Wikimedia Commons |
This fellow's coat reminds me of a "silver back" gorilla's.
What do you think Lewis and Clark really saw?
YEs, as compared to polar bears the grizzly bears are large. I like to see them . If you want to see them then book with us alaska bear tours
ReplyDeleteSacagawea was Hidatsa, if interested read the book the story of eagle woman. It will tell you our perspective. She was taken from one of our hunting camps as a young girl along with her brother and some other children. I’ve been to this camp along the little Missouri my grandmothers grandmother would tell stories of her as we come from her brother Cherry Necklace
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