October 19, 2007: Polar bear and the husky

No fewer than four of you sent this along, so although Snopes says it was collected in 2006, and confirms that it happened and was published last year, sometimes it takes a while for something to catch on, on the net.

Photographer Norbert Rosing was out on a photo session with these dogs, in the middle of nowhere, Hudson Bay in northern Canada - when a 1200 pound polar bear appeared on the scene.

But incredibly, the outcome wasn't an eaten dog. It was a half-hour session of... play.

Stuart Brown narrates a slide show of the event, in which he interprets the gestures of both animals as signals to play; the dog's mouth without fangs, the bear's ears back.

Snopes is, as Snopes must always be, a little skeptical that this was play - but dog owners have seen this sort of thing before in their dogs, and hey, if a polar bear is hungry and wants to eat, let's admit it, the dog is probably toast.

But the slideshow says the bear returned every night for a week to play again. I for one am encouraged to believe it was play; the modern dog, even the husky, is play-oriented. And why shouldn't the bear get something out of it? He's not going to be concerned for his safety, so why not the occasional social move?

Without wanting to be guilty of anthromorphosis - that's play damnit!

That's incredibly cute!

there is a distinct lack of red snow in the vicinity. says play quite obviously.


ps....i wish i knew what accidental combination of keys leads to my replying to a thread halfway through typing it out.

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Originally Posted by lumberjim ps....i wish i knew what accidental combination of keys leads to my replying to a thread halfway through typing it out.

I had to join just for this.

Its absolutely adorable

I want to play with a polar bear!

(Why do I feel like the outcome would be different?)

polar bears are amazing. For all their ferocity, which from all accounts is pretty genuine, they have a lot of play in them too. I've seen videos of them playing with stuff before.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flint Thumb drifting over laptop mousepad accidentally moves cursor to the Submit Reply button, then you hit enter to end a paragraph and it posts?

Welcome to the Cellar, Ashaloo

Wow... I would not have believed it... too cool.

Too bad they're not both bald

I'm pretty sure it's Alt+S.

I have heard of bears playing before, although I have never seen it in the wild

TEST...Yup...ALT+S

thanks, Yb.

My first thought reading the title of the thread was "That sounds like it should be a bedtime story for my daughter."

Am I the only one who thinks photo 3 looks like it shows them dancing?

How the Hell do you accidentally hit Alt+S ??? This gives new meaning to the term "fat finger" ...

aiming at the space bar?

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Originally Posted by lumberjim aiming at the space bar?

Thanks UT for the post - I feel all warm & fuzzy inside, and it's not even happy hour (yet)!!

GROUP HUG!!!

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Originally Posted by Flint That's how your keyboards get messed up. Aim for a towel or something. Or the inside of a sock works too.

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Originally Posted by lumberjim ***WARNING**** THIS IS A FAMILY FORUM. PLEASE KEEP YOUR COMMENTS CLEAN ***WARNING****

Maybe it is a female that lost her cub...then again, dogs and bears have common ancestors...

First picture, dog in the background.... "Psst, eat him... I'm old and tough."

Somehow these pictures remind me of my ex's dog and the cat that now lives with me. You are free to guess which would be the dog and which the cat. (No bets. It's too easy.. )

How do you catch a polar bear?

You go to the north pole with a shovel and a bag of frozen peas.

You did a big hole in the snow and put peas all around the edges.

You wait for a polar bear to go for a pea, then kick him in the icehole.

these pics look familiar

These look a lot like those in an article in National Geographic a few years ago. Pardon me for not taking the time to find the Month/Year.

I'm going off very rough memory here-- a bunch of bachelor polar bears gather around St George's Sound waiting for winter freeze-up so they can walk out to good hunting waters. The bears are in chipper spirits considering they have eaten little for quite some time.

Please don't take time to correct my geography or memory here. I am studying for an exam next week and should not even be looking at Cellar.

I got them in an email claiming it was Churchill, Manitoba. That's where, as you said, the bears that have been trapped on land for the summer, hang out waiting for the winter ice so they can go out and hunt.
If that's true, I thought is was pretty unusual that bear was fat, happy and playful, rather than inhaling the dog.

Can we expect cute baby Polusky pics one Friday soon? I'd like to try them raw dipped in little soy sauce.....

YAY......I loved this when I got this via email.

Shame on you monster, poor lil polusky cuppies

I found it pretty weird that Snopes even doubted for a moment that the bear and the dog were playing. People don't even trust their own eyes anymore, so skeptical have we become.

The loss of innocence and trust in modern society is fucking depressing. Everybody's always trying to screw someone out of something or put something over on someone for personal gain.

Ptui. I see a bear and a dog playing, period.

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Originally Posted by ferret88 My first thought reading the title of the thread was "That sounds like it should be a bedtime story for my daughter."

More games to play with polar bears

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Originally Posted by Beest More games to play with polar bears

I wondered about that too.

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Originally Posted by Undertoad No fewer than four of you sent this along, so although Snopes says it was collected in 2006, and confirms that it happened and was published last year, sometimes it takes a while for something to catch on, on the net.

At least you'll die happy!

very very funny.

If you saw the dog and polar bear playing, wouldn't you want to run over and join in the fun? I would. I'd wrastle that bear. I'd tickle him, pull his tail (if polar bears have tails), blow in his face.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HungLikeJesus If you saw the dog and polar bear playing, wouldn't you want to run over and join in the fun? I would. I'd wrastle that bear. I'd tickle him, pull his tail (if polar bears have tails), blow in his face.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HungLikeJesus If you saw the dog and polar bear playing, wouldn't you want to run over and join in the fun? I would. I'd wrastle that bear. I'd tickle him, pull his tail (if polar bears have tails), blow in his face.

I'd wrastle you too, DN, but I think you'd beat me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Undertoad Snopes says it was collected in 2006, and confirms that it happened and was published last year, sometimes it takes a while for something to catch on, on the net.

Wow! Posted in 2002--so Snopes was wrong?

**double-checking link**

Oh, hang on, no--they just say that the pictures were published in the photographer's book in 2006, they don't actually say the events occurred in 2006. Whew.