Welcome to the first edition of Random List. A (hopefully) ongoing blog series here on Personafication where I attempt to find interesting stories on whatever subject comes to mind. Today entry, which is the first of these blogs, will be on Bears. Why exactly? Well the animal kingdom is filled with interesting facts, and creatures that naturally humans are curious about discovering. So upon choosing which creature to focus on I chose the Bear. I found several stories involving Bears worth sharing for different reasons, and many of them peaked my interest. So here are 9 Random Stories Involving Bears.
# 9 – Famous English Poet Bring Pet Bear To College
George Gordon Byron, commonly known as Lord Byron, is regarded as one of the greatest English Poet known for many things besides his own literary writing. Byron behavior was scandalous know to have numerous sexual affairs with both sexes, and one them rumored is his half-sister, Augusta Leigh, who married him then divorce him with his continue sex escapades. His fame was similar to that of a rockstar in London with his personal drawing as much attention as his writing.
When Byron went to college, he tried to take his pet dog to go with him. Cambridge Trinity College was having none of it, and stuck to their strict “no dogs allowed” policy, seemingly unaware that they talking to mischievous Lord Byron. After being told no, Byron pleaded with the college to make an exception, but they wouldn’t budge. He of course just bought a bear like any wealthy British poet would. Legally the college authorities had no right to complain. Byron kept the bear lodged in a small hexagonal tower above his rooms. He wrote in one of his letter the following words to his friend Elizabeth Bridget Pigot. “I have got a new friend, the finest in the world, a tame bear. When I brought him here, they asked me what I meant to do with him, and my reply was, ‘he should sit for a fellowship”.
More strangely is the fact that Byron was allowed to keep the bear on campus simply because the clause banned dogs and not bears. The bear stayed on campus until graduation, and Byron took the bear with him to Newstead Abbey where Byron played with the bear for regular amusements.
Story Sources:
Google Books – The New Oxford Book of Literary Anecdotes
# 8 – Gus Waldorf Vs. Bear Boxing Match
In 1949 boxer Gus Waldorf, fought against a Bear in a Boxing match. The Bear was handicapped in this match restricted to muzzle, and boxing gloves. If the Bear wasn’t handicapped he surely would have won, and even with his handicap the Bear still won.
It was a match that no doubt is the only legacy Gus Waldorf left behind. No seriously. The odd thing about this story is in spite of how popular this story is I’ve been unable to find any information on Gus Waldorf himself. Every time I looked Gus Waldorf up the only thing that comes up about him is his boxing match with a bear. That alone should probably (or not) speak for his professional boxing career.
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# 7 – Man Fights Bear Over A Sandwich
I can tell you one thing for sure when going into the wilderness be is prepared for you food to stolen by an uninvited guest. In 2009, New Jersey, 52 year old Henry Rouwendal was packing his car up one night for a business trip the following morning. When suddenly something struck Rouwendal from behind. He crumpled forward to the ground, and rolled over to see a black bear grabbed his sandwich.
Thinking quickly, in Rouwendal own words, “I kicked him three times in the snout and one time in the throat. I think the one in the throat got him,” he said. The bear ran off and Henry was left aching on the ground with a head injury, dislocated shoulder, large cut on his left temple and some deep body bruises. It took him an hour before he could get up and get back inside his home.
His wife, a nurse, tended to the extensive bruising and dislocated shoulder he had suffered. When Henry reported the crime he was told by authority it was the first kind of it’s attack in the town in more than 25 years. In a on camera interview Henry says he’s more upset about losing his sandwich than getting mauled by a Bear.
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# 6 – 73-Year-Old Man Punches Bear To Save His Dogs
Earlier in 2015, in Sacramento California, there’s another individual who also stood up against a Bear. More impressive than most action stars is Carl Moore, a 73 year old man, fended off against a Bear despite his old age. According to reports, or news story I came across. A bear was trying to get pass a low gate on Carl’s Moore when he heard the screaming of his dogs. Instinctively Moore didn’t punch the Bear first. Moore raised both hands in the air, and started cussing at him.
When the Bear showed no concern by Moore profane language. Carl Moore ran towards the Bear landing what he calls the “Whirling Haymaker” punch on the Bear face. Not wanting to fight the old man, the Bear reasonably ran off into the wild again. One odd thing about this story is some sources says Carl Moore is 75, while other say he’s 73. Another thing that’s sketchy is different sources has Carl Moore profession as something different like being an ex-marine, a contractor, or a former boxer. Whatever the case is, it’s pretty bad ass that an old man made a 5 1/2 feet tall and 300 pounds Bear run away from a single punch.
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# 5 – Mud Creek Grizzly Bear Outwits Scientists
At this point, it’s about time to introduce the scary aspect that is Bear can be intelligent. It stating the obvious the animal kingdom is filled with smart animals, but how often do many of them outwit scientists. In the late 90s, a group of biologist in working near Glacier National Park were troubled with the antics of the Mud Creek Grizzly. According to the interviewee, “He was a very handsome-looking dark-colored grizzly”.
The Mud Creek Grizzly probably felt uncomfortable that his capturers thought this way. So the Mud Creek Bear declare war on the scientists. The researchers set up their bear research station, complete with traps, bait, and cameras. Waiting until the researchers had completed their work and left the fully equipped, MCG quietly slipped out of his hiding place and began his work. This, is directly from one the interviewee from an old article.
“First, he would take down the plastic strips that marked the trail to the site. Then, he would set off all the traps using sticks and rocks, then steal and eat the bait. Afterwards, he would trash the site with that thoroughness for which pissed-off grizzlies are known for. He would go to great lengths to obtain the camera that the biologists had set up to record the capture. After getting it, he would gnaw on it until the back sprung open, then remove the film cartridge and smash it. How he knew that the film in the camera was important is beyond me. Despite this, the biologists were often still able to develop a few pictures in the damaged cartridge and thus obtain a good look at their opponent whom they never saw in the flesh. Various traps were set to catch the Mud Creek Griz, but they were disabled with contemptuous ease. Eventually, the biologists realised that on at least some occasions, the bear followed them out into the field and watched them from hiding as they set up their equipment, ready to trash it as soon as they left. The grizzly was never trapped, but moved on to another territory after losing a fight to a really big old male.”
As terrifying as Bears might be, this certainly doesn’t help matter for those fearful of Bears. How this particular Mud Creek Grizzly Bear knew to destroy film within the camera is unclear. This does, however, demonstrate they are very adaptive creatures, or these scientists aren’t as smart as a Bear.
Story Source:
# 4 – Bear Drives Toyota Prius Into A Tree
Continuing from our last story, loosely, we’ll focus on the event that is as baffling to me as it might be to you. In 2011, the McCarthy family was spending a quiet weekend at their vacation home in Lake Tahoe, California, when in the middle of the night, they were awakened by the sound of a car horn honking — a car horn that sounded suspiciously like that of their own car, a Toyota Prius. When they looked outside, they noticed that the car was rocking, and also that there was a distinct grunting sound coming from inside.
The family was sympathetic towards the stuck Bear, and probably confuse too. Brian McCarthy said in a interview the car was close which makes that much more of a mystery on how the Bear entered the car. Frustrated he’s stuck in a Toyota Prius the Bear began to tear the inside apart. Before eventually its behind-the-wheel rampage, the bear ripped open the seats, bit a chunk out of the steering wheel and damaged the Prius’ gear box, shifting the car into neutral.
The bear successfully shift the Prius into reverse, he also backed the car down the steep 25-foot driveway and across the street before crashing into some boulders in front of a neighbor’s house. Apparently the crash jostled him loose, and the bear was able to squeeze out of the Prius and escape before the authorities arrived. According to rumors, parent Bears are apparently outraged of the crime, and decided to attempt to ban the video game series Grand Theft Auto. Because video games can teach you how to steal cars, unlike every other form of media which has been around far longer than video games.
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# 3 – US President Thomas Jefferson Had Pet Bear Cubs
Thomas Jefferson received a pair of grizzly Bear cubs as a gift from Captain Zebulon Pike in 1807. The bears arrived at about the same time as Pike’s letter (October 1807) explaining that he had acquired the male and female cubs in the southern region of the great Continental Divide. It wasn’t like Thomas Jefferson was unaware of Bear behavior as this passage from a journal entry from Lewis, and Clark journal entry.
“In the evening we saw a Brown or Grisley beare on a sand beech, I went out with one man Geo Drewyer & Killed the bear, which was verry large and a turrible looking animal, which we found verry hard to kill… This animal is the largest of the carnivorous kind I ever saw…”
Despite having read this first hand account from the two explorers, Jefferson still decided to keep them. Apparently describing them as gentle with quite good humor. As all good bear cubs do, they grew too big and Jefferson decided to have them shipped to a museum in Philadelphia to be on display for two weeks, storing them in cages on the White House lawn for several months until all the arrangements could be made.
During the cubs two month journey to the museum in Philadelphia they outgrew their cages. The Bears, reported to be around two years old at the time broke free. One broke free and managed to corner the museum owner in the kitchen, upon which the animal was promptly shot dead. They shot the other one dead too. They then stuffed both corpses and threw them up for display.
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# 2 – Bears and Seals Are Related
When looking up on Bear related stories for this blog I came across an article that revealed something interesting. Turns out the bears’ closest living relatives have all the cute, but got severely shafted on the badass. The pinniped’s location in the evolutionary tree has always been a little tricky, but genetic evidence revealed that pinnipeds are closely related to bears and seals. It’s also unclear as to when the pinniped first adapted to semi-aquatic life.
According to scientists, seal’s flipper is flatter, and the bear’s claws are longer (seals have claws despite their small size). Similarity between are the two that they both have non-retractable claws, both have five claws on each foot, both have the same basic bone structure and both are plantigrade (meaning that both the heel and toe touch the ground).
In fact, fossil record indicates that the pinnipeds probably arose from a bear like ancestor called Puijila, which was a powerful predator that could run on all fours like a bear but also had webbed toes, allowing it to hunt in the water. Another thing this discovery has led to is I’m never going to be able to see Seals the same way again.
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# 1 – Discovering of the Grolar Bear
Originally when writing this I had the intention of making the correlation between Bears and Seals number one on this list, but that was then until I discover a story on the discover of the Grolar Bear.
The earliest source of this specie I could discover came in 2006, when 65 year old hunter Jim Martell shot a Grolar Bear in Canada. Wildlife officials seized the bear after noticing its white fur was interspersed with brown patches. It also had long claws, a concave facial profile, and a humped back, which are characteristic of a grizzly. DNA testing confirmed it was a hybrid between a Grizzly Bear, and a Polar Bear. An exact reason for the hybrid has been theorized to be mostly caused from the melting of the ice-caps causing the Polar Bears to move Southward.
On April 8, 2010, Inuvialuit hunter David Kuptana in a nearby community of Ulukhaktok on Victoria Island shot what he thought was a Polar Bear. DNA testing discover it was part of a Second generation of Grolar Bears. Some interesting facts on the Grolar Bear is their behavior is more inline of a Polar Bear than a Grizzly Bear. Appearances wise it exhibits the look of both species. Another report in 2010, Biologists affiliated with the American Museum of Natural History and City College of the City University of New York offered the first documented of Grizzly Bears migrating into Polar Bears territory. So expects Grolars Bears to be more common.
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This has been the first ever edition of Random List which I hope you enjoyed reading. The goal of this blog isn’t to rank, but explore a number of subjects out of my own realm of media entertainment.
If you have any suggestion for a list regardless of subject matter be sure to leave a comment, and I’ll do my best to do that subject justice. Until next time, insert catchphrase here.
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