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The grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) is a subspecies of brown bear (Ursus arctos) that lives in the uplands of western North America. Half of the grizzlies in North America live in Canada, and half of these live in British Columbia, mostly in the northern regions. (Look out, guys.)
In contrast to timber wolves, grizzlies are normally solitary animals except during salmon spawn, when they congregate alongside rivers and streams. Every other year females produce 1-4 young which weigh only 1 pound. They can grow to be over 1000 pounds in adulthood. Being omnivores, they feed on a variety of plants and berries including roots or sprouts and fungi as well as fish, insects and small mammals. The Grizzly Bear is primarily nocturnal and in the winter puts on up to 400 pounds of fat, becoming very lethargic. Although they are not true hibernators and can be woken easily, they like to den up in a protected spot, such as a cave, crevice or hollow log during the winter months.
The word "grizzly" in its name refers to "grizzled" or grey hairs in its fur, but when naturalist George Ord formally named the bear in 1815 he misunderstood the word as "grisly", to produce its biological Latin specific or subspecific name "horribilis". The Grizzly Bear is not generally considered endangered, but is listed as "threatened."
This preview of the next 100 miles shows what Dee was talking about, "time for Advil again." Enjoy the first 40 miles! (And from the comments from the locals, it looks like the coverage map below is right.)
It is hard to know how accurate or precise this Verizon Wireless Digital coverage map is, but in any case, it appears that communication may be at least an intermittent problem for the next few weeks.
A biome is a major regional or global biotic community, such as a grassland or desert, defined by the dominant forms of plant life and the prevailing climate. The boreal forest biome is the largest terrestrial ecosystem in the world, characterized by conifer forests and a harsh continental climate with a very large temperature range between summer and winter. The global boreal forests are larger than even the Amazon rainforest.
"Like the Amazon, the boreal forest is of critical importance to all living things. Its trees and peatlands comprise one of the world's largest 'carbon reservoirs.'... Its wetlands filter millions of gallons of water each day. And as a vast and intact forest ecosystem, it still supports a natural food web, complete with large carnivores like bears, wolves and lynx along with thousands of other species of plants, mammals, birds and insects. The boreal forest is also home to hundreds of First Nations communities, many of which rely on fishing, hunting and trapping for their livelihoods. Despite its global significance, Canada's boreal forest is in great danger today." NRDC
Geography and history have been my primary topics up to now, along with a little biography. Time now for some ecology.
The Timberwolf or Grey Wolf (Canis lupus) once inhabited most of North America, but their range has been reduced by over half, now limited to Alaska, Canada, and small areas of the U.S. The timber wolf is typically a grizzled gray but color varies from white to black. The ears are erect and the tail is bushy and black tipped. The male is larger than the female and average weight is 55-130 pounds.
Wolves are highly social animals who mate for life and live in packs of 2-15. The strongest male is usually the pack leader; all members of the pack care for the young which helps unite the pack. An average of 7 pups are born to each female in April-June. Usually hunting at night, they feed primarily on large mammals by chasing down their victims either slashing tendons or driving it back to waiting pack members. The wolves howl as a means of communication and to express good spirits. The wolf will usually answer to a human howl, "which is truly a Canadian experience."
In 2007, the BC government announced a "partnership" to save British Columbia's endangered mountain caribou. The partners — BC government, logging companies, snowmobile clubs, heli-ski businesses and the Mountain Caribou Project (MCP) — had agreed to protect 2.2 million hectares of high quality mountain caribou winter habitat. They had also agreed to kill predators (i.e. timber wolves). But in the big media promotion, the habitat protection received all of the focus and predator control (which had been the subject of massive protest) received little attention.
According to ForestPolicyResearch.org "the press materials emphasized habitat protection but the actions have been just the opposite. The government is relying upon killing predators (wolves) as its silver bullet to increase caribou numbers without reducing the logging that is destroying habitat."
This is the Google Maps Terrain View of the British Columbia Rocky Mountains ahead of the Trikers.
Here is the elevation graph that Dee requested for the Alaskan Highway between Shepherd's Inn and Pink Mountain. I am not quite sure why the distance is off by so much, but my indicator pins (as located by Google) may not be entirely accurate.
The grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) is a subspecies of brown bear (Ursus arctos) that lives in the uplands of western North America. Half of the grizzlies in North America live in Canada, and half of these live in British Columbia, mostly in the northern regions. (Look out, guys.)
