Hi Tweets,

Kristi Streiffert writes:

>Tweeters: I have a question for any of you natural history wizards.
>Last weekend, in the mountainous, snowy forests around Wallace, Idaho,
>my cohorts and I saw, on two separate occasions (and in far distant
>areas, so it wasn't the same cub twice), a small bear cub, about the
>size of, say, a cocker spaniel. They were wandering around alone,
>looking lost. Question: was mom nearby, or were they as lost as they
>looked?

Kristi, you may be seeing the aftermath of a successful spring bear hunt or
the result of an attack by a male bear either killing or incapacitating the
mother. Mother bears typically have twins, rarely triplets or single cubs;
secondly, both cubs typically stay put while their mother forages. Just one
cub wandering suggests violent trauma to that family, whether at the hands
of a hunter or a male bear.

Interestingly, the Province of Ontario, governed by one of the most
hard-Right Conservative governments in Canada's history-- no latte-drinkers
these guys, believe you me-- has just ended the spring bear hunt ostensibly
for this reason, and perhaps to forestall a lawsuit based on--among other
things--cruelty, which they stood every chance of losing. Then lengthened
the fall kill. Until this year, each spring saw many hunters (overwhelmingly
American, according to the government's surveys) came into our North Country
to shoot bears still groggy from hibernation, often luring them into close
killing range by setting out garbage as bait for the hungry, dozy animals
still half-stupid with sleep. In most instances, the hunters who shot
females left orphaned twins: such orphans wander and starve.

>(Sorry for the non-bird question, but I don't
>subscribe to "growlers."

Please, Kristi, never apologise for a question when you want to know the
answer. As for off-topic posts, why not put an alert in the header that
something's non-bird-related: for example, 'Not About Birds: Bear Questions'
or 'Off-Topic: Bear Query', warning people who aren't interested in non-bird
postings to hit 'delete' if they want.

Michael Price
Vancouver BC Canada
mprice at mindlink.net