Grizzly Bears Clamming – Grizzly Bear Blog (original) (raw)
Archive for the Grizzly Bears Clamming Category
Posted in Grizzly Bears Clamming with tags Alaska, animals, bear, bears, grizzly bears on August 11, 2011 by grizzlybearblog
Clams are an important part of the grizzly bear diet on the coast of Alaska. Bears use their amazing sense of smell to locate clams under the sand. The extreme tidal variations in Alaska allow miles of the ocean floor to be uncovered at low tide – an excellent opportunity for clamming.
You can see this female grizzly bear sniffing the surface of the sand to locate her next clam.
Grizzly Bear Opens a Clam
Posted in Grizzly Bears Clamming with tags Alaska, animals, bears, grizzly bears, nature on January 13, 2011 by grizzlybearblog
This grizzly bear female is delicately prying open a clam using her nails. Grizzly bears have different techniques for opening clam shells. Some crush the entire clam in their mouths, then spit out the shells (which reminds me of how humans eat sunflower seeds with the shell on). Other bears eat the whole clam shell. Others will twist apart the top shell from the bottom shell using the palm of their front paw.
Grizzly Bears Are Not Always Loners
Posted in Alaska, Grizzly Bears Clamming with tags Alaska, animals, bears, grizzly bear, nature, wildlife on September 25, 2010 by grizzlybearblog
Two adult grizzly bears choose to clam right next to each other. Coastal grizzlies in Alaska are much more social than inland grizzly bears. Often adult bears choose to spend time near one another. These bears, for example, could be clamming just as successfully far apart from one another. There are miles of empty mud flats in this bay where the clamming is great. Why did they choose however to clam side by side? I believe grizzlies are far more social than they are given credit for in scientific literature. On the Alaska coast I’ve witnessed countless adult bears enjoying each others company and playing for fun.
Clamming white grizzly bear
Posted in Alaska, Grizzly Bears Clamming with tags Alaska, animals, bears, grizzly bear, nature, wildlife on September 10, 2010 by grizzlybearblog
A blonde grizzly bear uses her nose to sniff for clams under the sea floor at low tide.
Grizzly Bear Cubs Clamming
Posted in Grizzly Bear Cubs, Grizzly Bears Clamming with tags Alaska, animals, baby animals, bear cubs, brown bears, grizzly bears, nature on September 3, 2010 by grizzlybearblog
Like human children, grizzly bear cubs learn by imitating their mothers. Here, two grizzly bear cubs follow their mom as she is digging for clams. I realized that their mother was leaving small bits of the clams behind for the little cubs to discover and eat. This encouraged them to explore the holes left by their mom as she dug up at least 20-30 clams. The cubs had fun chewing on the clam shells which had meat stuck to them.
Grizzly Bear Sub-adult
Posted in Alaska, Grizzly Bears Clamming with tags Alaska, animals, bears, brown bears, grizzlies, grizzly bears, wildlife on July 29, 2010 by grizzlybearblog
We named this subadult grizzly bear “Bobby” since he reminded me so much of an adult bear we call Bob. They both had the same funny, round, blond mickey mouse ears on the tops of their heads. Bobby is most likely four years old, and on his own for the first summer. Mother bears will drive away their cubs during their third or fourth year. He was a small little guy who liked to dig for clams along the river.
Clamming holes left by grizzly bear
Posted in Alaska, Grizzly Bears Clamming with tags Alaska, animals, bears, brown bears, grizzlies, grizzly bears, nature, wildlife on May 23, 2010 by grizzlybearblog
The mudflats along the Alaskan coast can be littered with holes left behind by clamming bears.
Smelling for clams
Posted in Grizzly Bears Clamming, May with tags Alaska, animals, bears, grizzlies, grizzly bear, grizzly bears, wildlife on May 20, 2010 by grizzlybearblog
Grizzly Bears use their noses to smell for clams under the sand. Once they smell a clam, they will quickly jam their paws into the sand to scoop up the clam. This is an impressive act, considering clams can move several inches per second under the sand.
To learn more about the grizzly bear’s nose visit www.grizzlybay.org