Nature Bulletin No. 655-A   November 12, 1977
Forest Preserve District of Cook County 
George W. Dunne, President
Roland F. Eisenbeis, Supt. of Conservation

****:THE GRIZZLY AND THE BIG BROWN BEARS

In the early days, more tall tales were told about "Old Ephraim, " the 
grizzly bear, than any other animal. It had the reputation of being a 
bloodthirsty enemy of man and was given the scientific name Ursus 
horribilis by a taxonomist who had never seen a live one but had heard 
and read some of those yarns about its terrible ferocity and prodigious 
strength.

The Grizzly is very intelligent and shrewd but, actually, has a rather 
phlegmatic disposition. It avoids people and will not attack unless 
provoked. Then, a female with cubs is unpredictable, and big game 
hunters say that a wounded grizzly is the most dangerous animal on 
earth. But ordinarily, as Earnest Thompson Seton observed, Ephraim is 
a peaceful giant who is perfectly satisfied to let you alone if you leave 
him alone.

Grizzlies originally ranged from Mexico through the Sierras and the 
Rockies to central Alaska; and eastward across the Great Plains as far 
as western Texas and Minnesota. Today, except in Yellowstone, Grand 
Teton and Glacier national parks, and the Lewis and Clark national 
forest -- where they are protected -- few grizzlies survive south of 
Canada.

They and the Big Brown Bears of Alaska are members of a group in 
which 84 species and subspecies have been described. The differences 
between some of them are so slight that it is difficult to tell which is 
which and they interbreed. The true grizzlies vary in color from shades 
of brown to creamy yellow and jet black. There is commonly a 
sprinkling of white-tipped hairs on the back -- hence the name -- and 
they were also called Silvertips or, by Lewis and Clark for example, 
"white bears. "

A mature grizzly, about eight years old, may be from 6 to 8-1/2 feet 
long and weigh from 600 to 1000 pounds. The massive head appears 
dish-faced because of the high forehead, and there is a pronounced 
hump over the shoulders. It can run faster than a horse. With one sweep 
of a paw it can crush the skull of a bull or a bison, and can carry away 
the carcass of a full-grown steer or an elk. A grizzly's vision is poor but 
its hearing is keen and the sense of smell is unsurpassed.

John Muir once remarked that a bear will eat everything except granite. 
A grizzly, emerging from hibernation, nibbles at early vegetation such 
as skunk cabbage or the buds on shrubs and trees, and then hunts for 
carcasses of animals killed during winter by snowslides, etc. In summer 
it digs up roots and, much like a cow, crops great quantities of grass. It 
digs craters to capture ground squirrels and other burrowing animals. 
On a mountain side covered with berry bushes it devours armfuls of the 
twigs, leaves and fruit. It is as fond of pine nuts as it is of carrion, fish, 
ants, insect grubs and honey. Just before hibernating, hog fat, it eats 
nothing but quantities of spruce or fir needles.

The big brown bears, except for a species that inhabits the Barren 
Grounds, seldom range far from the sea coasts and become much larger 
than the grizzlies, possibly because, being remarkably adept at catching 
salmon, they eat enormous amounts of fish. Those on Kodiak Island 
and the Kenai and Alaska peninsulas are the largest carnivores in the 
world. Some of them become almost 10 feet long, measure about that 
from claw tip to claw tip of their outstretched front feet, and weigh 
1800 pounds. "Brownies" vary in color from golden brown to creamy 
tan or grayish black. The several kinds differ from each other and from 
the grizzlies in size, teeth, and the shape and size of their skulls.

The golden grizzly, now extinct, is pictured on the state seal of 
California.