Photo Grouse Mountain
It was announced this week that Grinder and Coola, Grouse Mountain's resident grizzly bears, have gone into hibernation. The two local celebrities live in a 5.5 acre refuge on the mountain where people can view them. According to Grouse, have "helped educate hundreds of thousands of visitors to the refuge on the plight faced by wild Grizzly Bears".
The public can't view them walking around in the winter as they go into a state of hibernation, however there's a live stream of them in their den that you should CHECK OUT RIGHT NOW.
More from Grouse Mountain on the lead up to hibernation:
"Over the last few weeks the bears have built a deep mattress out of Pacific-silver Fir (Amabilis Fir) branches that were provided by refuge staff. Usually it's Coola who does most of the bed making but this year we observed both Grinder and Coola sharing the bed-making.
Grizzly Bears (and other species of bear) are actually not true hibernators. While their body temperature and heart rate slow down significantly, they do not drop to the levels observed in animals that are truly in hibernation (such as bats and small rodents). Just about every day we observe motions and activities by the bears that include stretching, re-making the bed, sitting up, grooming themselves or each other, and even some play or exploration of their hibernation area. These activities keep their muscles and bones healthy throughout the winter sleep and allow them to be ready should they ever have to leave or abandon a den sight.
The bears, however, do not eat, drink, urinate or defecate during the hibernation period. In this sense they are more like a traditional hibernator."
Again, check out the Hibernation Den Webcam HERE.
