David Kirby, age 11, of Tipton, Ind ,
Can a polar bear swim?
All bears can swim, but the big white polar bear is the champ of the family, The brown bears and the black bears, the honey colored bears and the grizzlies all enjoy a cooling dip, swim happily across a stream and stand fishing knee deep in the water But the polar bear can spend hours at a time in the cold and salty waters of the Arctic ocean, He can float with dust his face and nose above the icy water, he can dawdle along paddling his two front paws or he can use all four feet to swim with a fast, steady stroke,
Like all bears, he often stands up on his back feet, This way, the shaggy white giant may be nine feet ‑all, On all fours his shoulder level may be five feet And a large polar bear may tip the scales at 1600 pounds which is almost a ton He weighs a little less than the Alaskan brown bear, who claims to be the largest meat‑eating animal on land, However, this fellow eats very little meat and the polar bead s diet is mostly meat, On this basis, he can claim to be the largest carnivore, or meat eater, on land
His Arctic hunting ground is made up of frozen ground and wide stretches of chilly water dotted with icebergs and floating ice floes The summer sun does not set for months at a time and the winter is months of cold, dark night during which the sun does not rise at a11, Yet Mr, Polar Bear does not hibernate like his sissified cousins who live farther south He is out all winter long, hunting for seals and birds, foxes and shellfish Occasionally he nibbles a salad of seaweed,
Mrs, Polar Bear, however, usually hibernates during the winter while she is carrying her cubs As the summer sun finally sets, she digs a den in a snow bank
She curls up to doze and soon her white coat is covered with a cozy blanket of blowing snow Her cubs are born about January and she snuggles and cuddles them in her snowy den until the summer sun peeps above the horizon 3 n about March
This cozy den is very necessary to the baby bears, for they are born blind, helpless and naked except for a few straggly hairs The little fellows are only ten inches long and weigh perhaps two pounds apiece, This is very small for animals which grow to be six to nine feet long
When spring comes Mammals darling cubs are covered with fluffy white fur and their bright little eyes are open and alert They tumble out of their den like playful puppies and toddle around clumsily to explore their white Arctic homeland Mamma takes care of them, feeds them, teaches them to hunt and swim, When the summer sun thaws the ground, she takes them inland to dine on grasses and tender spring shoots
The cubs stay with the big white mother bear until they are 16 or 17 months old By this time they weigh about 200 pounds apiece and have learned all the tricks of bearcraft Now Mamma shoos them away to make their own way in the world and if they are lucky, they will live to enjoy 30 birthdays.