Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Bearclaw: Breakfast Pastry, Gang Sign

Black bears are TOTALLY gangsta, according to the journal Human-Wildlife Conflicts. They get pregnant at a younger age, are more likely to die violent deaths, and grow bigger. The weight is because they supplement their diet with garbage (real garbage, not frito-lay products and hostess snack cakes (ZING!)), and the increased weight leads to the earlier pregnancies (don't ask, I don't want to know).

The violent death part is due to vehicle collisions, but the study doesn't state how many of those collisions were during drive-bys.

It also brings up an interesting concept, the "bear sink." Urban areas and their tasty, tasty garbage are drawing in bears from outlying areas. Then the bears get killed. Violently. And eventually, no bears are left in the wilderness. This is why we should start dumping our trash in the middle of the woods. Problem solved.

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The header image is adapted from a photo taken by Bill McChesney and used under a creative commons license.
 
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