Walking with BearsSome people prefer to walk in the woods alone. Terry DeBruyn walks with bears. Set in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, this is the account of an extraordinary human-ursine story. Biologist DeBruyn believes that the only way to protect a wild species is to determine precisely what they do all day. To find out, DeBruyn pioneered a G.P.S. monitoring system for radio-collared bears, but he soon realized the only way to truly understand the animal is to enter her world. Not so easy when the subject is a 250-pound North American black bear with cubs. Black bears are enormously powerful animals, though very shy of humans. So, first, DeBruyn must convince an individual bear to stick around long enough to learn she has nothing to fear. When he finally accomplishes this, the rewards are immense. Carmen and her daughter Netti and, later, Netti's daughter June are the ambassadors who grant us a glimpse into bear life. DeBruyn is their interpreter. He is a privileged guest, watching intimate family scenes: nursing, grooming, and wrestling among den mates. He learns as much about the moods and emotional life of bears as about their dietary requirements. "Walking With Bears" is an endearing tale of interspecies friendship. It will forever change the way we view one of the most fascinating and feared of all wild animals. |
From inside the book
Results 1-3 of 37
... ant species . Of more than thirty res- ident species of ants identified , the bears feed on only fifteen species ; furthermore , more than 75 percent of Carmen's and Nettie's feeding sites contained one of four primary ant species . 6 ...
... ants . Although black bears lack the longer claws that brown bears have evolved to unearth fossorial mammals , they have all the necessary equipment when it comes to raiding ant colonies . When ripping apart stump after stump and log ...
... ant larvae and pupae . Many adult ants are ingested inciden- tally in the process , for it is , I believe , the subadult stages ( lar- vae and pupae ) that she is after . The bears rarely feed at sites where subadults are not present ...
Other editions - View all
Walking with Bears: One Man's Relationship with Three Generations of Wild Bears Terry D. DeBruyn No preview available - 2001 |