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The Intelligence of Bears - Page 2© Gerald Eugene Smith
Page 2
May 4, 1999
The tradition continues to this day. For two years, biologists working near Glacier National Park were troubled with the antics of the Mud Creek Grizzly. He was a very handsome-looking dark-colored grizzly who had been captured at least twice in the course of wildlfe studies. He decided he had had enough and declared war on the bear biologists. He would invade a site after the bait and cameras were put up and the traps set. 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. Black bears too show strong reasoning ability. The never-ending war in our national parks to keep them out of campers' goodies attests to this. The smartest bears are in Yosemite in California. Methods that work almost anywhere else are a waste of time here. They can get food hung up in a tree no matter how carefully it is done. Even supposedly "bear proof" containers are not in Yosemite. The bears there long ago figured out you could crack them open by taking them high in a tree and dropping them. The only thing they cannot do is open the steel lock-boxes that the rangers provide, and my informants tell me that the bears quite ignore food inside these. The are at their smartest in getting into vehicles. The rangers do their best to warn the public, but it is a waste of time. One man from Las Angeles watched in shock as a black bear carefully peeled down the rear side door of his Japanese car (preferred for their light construction), walked in, pulled down the back seat to get into the trunk, pulled out the ice chest, carefully opened the catch, and proceeded to chow down. He said the bear knew exactly what it was doing. Other bears have specialised in breaking and entering particular models of cars. One young male figured out you could open a tightly locked VW bug by hopping up and down on the roof until the air pressure blew out the doors. Another (in a different park) has discovered a fool-proof method of breaking into Ford vans. He goes to the upper left corner of the windshield, hooks in his claws, and pulls out the glass. He then ransacks the interior, opens up the back door and exits.
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