The ends of the earth.

Gorgeous, cuddly, warm and furry, these are the images that I conjure up when thinking about one of the most beautiful animals inhabiting our earth. The Polar bear is all of these things and many more. However, as inviting as this creature may seem there is a side to the Polar bear to be wary about. It's hard for me to describe how dangerous a polar bear is capable of being, especially when all we seem to see of them is cute little pictures of mother bears and their gorgeous cubs. Contrary to their looks though, these bears have the ability to kill, and although this does not happen regularly the threat is still present whenever there is bear and human interaction.

Polar bears have enormous strength, and this coupled with the fact that they are masters of their cold domain gives them the upper hand when dealing with people. A polar bear has the strength to pull a Beluga whale from the icy water, which is likely to weigh several times more than the bear itself. That is an incredible show of strength. Could you imagine the average person lifting someone or something else that weighed three times as much as their own body weight? It's not surprising then that Polar bears have no trouble capturing seals below the icy surface and pulling it through a small hole in the ice. This procedure has been likened to the amount of effort a person would use to pull a tissue from a tissue box. This is something people need to take into consideration when visiting these animals in their natural habitats. The Polar bear would reign far supreme in the strength, speed and survival categories over humans every time.

But not all Polar Bears are the scary, fearsome types. There have been numerous cases where there has been bear, human interaction and nothing drastic has taken place. In fact there is the story of a man who back in the nineteen fifties was visiting Canada when a Polar bear decided to follow the man across the ice. Of course the man was petrified and with the bear in hot pursuit things weren't looking good for the visitor. Eventually the bear caught up to the man, and instead of tearing him apart like the man had feared the bear simply licked the mans hand. There are other accounts of similar things happening to other people; obviously some bears are just as curious about people as we are about them. On the other hand, there are the instances where Polar bears have attacked people, sometimes with dire consequences. Young, hungry males seem to be the ones to look out for. Once again there are numerous reports of polar bears seriously attacking people and even killing them, the potential is definitely there. If a bear, or any wild animal for that matter, is hungry and looking for food, you are best not to interfere or even get in its way. Bears have been known to break through glass windows in dwellings and vehicles just to get to what is on the other side. Like the report of a mechanic at a radar facility on the Beaufort Sea. The bear in this case broke through heavy glass to get to the man and them proceeded to "rip off his face" looking for a source of food. Another worker shot the bear, and the man did live to tell the tale, however the reminder is there that Polar bears can be lethal.

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