Polar Bear Migration

Churchill, Manitoba, is a small town on the Hudson Bay.  It is 2 blocks wide and 6 blocks long.  We stayed at the Polar bear Inn.  We spent two days on the Tundra Buggy watching the bears.

We learned a lot about polar bears.  They are very different from black and grizzlies.  For instance, polar bears do not hybernate. They spend much of the summer in a semi sleep mode and are most active in the winter.  The polar bears gather in Churchill to await the freezing of the Hudson Bay.  As soon as the ice freezes they are gone.  They will migrate across the ice to feast on the seals.  Blubber being their favorite food.

Pregnant females give birth in December after a 2 month gestation period.  Cubs are born blind and hairless and very tiny.  They grow fast, however; on mom's milk.   They will join mom in March to migrate on the ices, where mom will  quickly fatten up on seal cubs.  She will continuing nursing the cubs for a year.

Bears found in town are darted and hauled off to jail for 30 days in a cell.    Cubs share a cell with mom.  During the 30 day incarceration they are not fed.  At the end of 30 days they are again darted and placed in a net which is lifted by helicopter to deliver the miscreant back to the wildlife refuge.  Bears are given 3 chances in lock up.  Usually once is enough.

Polar Bear Jail

This was a bucket list trip, and well worth the price.

Ptarmigan

Arctic Hare

The Tundra Buggy Outside

The Tundra Buggy Inside


Our first bear sighting

The video below was taken on our second trip out.  One of us made a comment on how dirty the bear was, when he decided to to roll around on the ground (according to our ranger guide, this is a bear bathing technique).