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Polar Bear Nose Covering Query

D

darrensix

Gone But Not Forgotten
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Aug 28, 2001
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I heard once, somewhere, that polar bears cover their noses so that they become invisible in the snow.

Is this true?

I would love confirmation and, if possible, the location of a picture of a bear covering its nose, (although, I espect I wouldn't be able to see it).:hmph:
 
Dogs sometimes do something were they put their head down and paws on it. Maybe bears just do the same thing. Nothing to do with the nose.
 
I know what you mean. But, the reason polar bears are supposed to do it is because their noses are dark and their fur and surroundings are white.
 
The reason our dog used to do it was because he had just eaten a bee or wasp. He loved trying to catch them, but always regretted his success.
 
I just meant that maybe they did it for the same reason as a dog. Something to do with submission I think. And people just assumed it was the nose.
 
It doesn't seem likely. Their enviroment is basically white with little bits of black...
 
As they have no natural predators, it makes me wonder what they would want to hide from.
 
...and they eat seals, and don't have to sneak up on them.
 
It's a joke:

How does a polar bear hide in the snow?

Close eyes, cover nose with hands (paws).
 
A joke. That rings a bell. But, I'm almost certain I heard it on a nature programme or something.

I don't think it was a method of protection from preditors. It may a way of hiding from pray.:confused:
 
I did a little research of my own, (the office isn't terribly busy at the minute). Go here:

http://www.crockerfarm.org/ac/rm02/animals/MorganPBear.htm

"A polar bears black nose can be seen from 6 miles away on a clear day through binoculars. It is said that while stalking a seal a polar bear will cover it's nose to escape"

I was right! I was right! Mind you, the study on the above web-site was done by a child in 3rd grade!:rolleyes:
 
Truth is indeed stranger than fiction.

But seals don't use binoculars
 
Darrensix said:
It is said that while stalking a seal a polar bear will cover it's nose to escape"
Click to expand...

do they flee in fear from seals then?
 
Mmmm, I've noticed the problem with that quote. Children can be so stupid at times.

This site also suggests that polar bears do cover their noses to hide:

http://library.thinkquest.org/19926/text/tour/10.htm?tqskip=1

"It might be very useful for polar bears to have white noses, then they wouldn't have to cover their noses with their paws when they stalk their prey."
 
I've just had this wonderful vision of a polar bear, paws over its nose and chin on the ground, sneaking up on a seal behind the metre high mound of snow the bear is pushing in front of it.
 
jack said:
...and they eat seals, and don't have to sneak up on them.
Click to expand...
Bit of a bizarre statement. I’m not an expert on zoology but surely even if something is at the top of it’s food chain it still has to work a little to eat. I’ve yet to see the David Attenborough documentary that contains footage of seals charging towards a hungry polar bear waving their flippers in the air shouting “Oooh me, me, me. Please, me first”.

The Arctic is apparently especially prone to optical trickery, mirages etc. brought about by the refraction of light. The early arctic explorer John Ross stated that "We were often able to see land at an immense distance, and we have certain proof that the power of vision was extended beyond one hundred and fifty miles." Even allowing for misunderstanding and exaggeration it seems that a polar bear's nose might well be obvious to a seal without the use of binoculars.
 
You're right, Polar Bears cover their noses such that they can sucessfully ambush the seals at the air-holes in the pack ice.

I'm sure I read somewhere, (probably in "Why elephants have big ears" by Chris Lavers), that underneath all that white fur a Polar Bear's flesh is dark. Apparently it's to conserve bodily heat and absorb further warmth from the sun.

Cheers.
 
yeah, I heard that polar bear skin is black. I suppose if a polar bear lost all its hair it would be doomed; spotted by seals from miles off. I'm tempted to start a new thread asking if anyone knows stories about hairless polar bears.:D Well, perhaps not.
 
His Greatness, Fred Dynage (sp?) himself extolled this theory on the great ITV program "How 2"... so it must be true!
 
In the current issue of Bizarre magazine (December 2001) this idea is totally de-bunked (pg 113).
Is this serendipity or something else I'm getting confused with? I don't normally buy Bizarre mag but did yesterday as things are a little slow in the office.
Today boredom is sending me through all the threads I don't go into very often and lo and behold everything ties together.
 
I have this in an illustrated version
of one of Walt Disney's "True Life Adventures".

A female polar bear is showing a cub
how to conceal itself while waiting for
seals to pop out of the ice.

If it comes from Uncle Walt, it has
to be true! (Except for the bit about
lemmings and the cliff, of course...) :D

TVgeek
 
Polar bears are sneaky little beggars! Thay are also the arctic champions of hide and seek. Can you spot the one hiding in this post?





































Thay're really quite good!
 
This is unlikley.

polar bears are a yukky creamy yellow, and so bear hunters looks for patches of that colour when hunting bears...

they have been known to pick up a lump of ice and brain the seal with it though.
 
what about its eyes? i think that if the nose made that much difference to hunting it would have evolved to be covered in fur. anything is going to have some dark patches on it, be it noses, or shadows.

how does an animal hunt with a paw over its nose anyway? surely the animal stumbling around three-legged is going to undo any camouflaging effects that covering its nose would have.

and anyway, perhaps the bear is just covering its nose because it's cold. :)
 
According to Mr. Disney, the bear only covers
its nose while lying in wait near the seal holes...
not while running around! :lol:

TVgeek
 
Myth: A polar bear covers its nose

Dr. Ian Stirling and several assistants used telescopes to watch undisturbed polar bears hunting seals in the Canadian High Arctic—24 hours a day when conditions permitted, for several weeks each year, over several years.

They documented details on many hundreds of hunts, and no bear was ever seen putting a paw over its nose while stalking a seal. Nor, to our knowledge, have other polar bear biologists ever observed this behavior. Imagine just how a bear might walk, crawl, or stalk on three legs while holding its paw over its nose for an extended period, since most hunts on the sea ice cover between 50 to 200 meters (165 - 656 feet).

Source:
http://polarbearsinternational.org/polar-bears/myth-busters/
 
Yithian said:
Myth: A polar bear covers its nose

Dr. Ian Stirling and several assistants used telescopes to watch undisturbed polar bears hunting seals in the Canadian High Arctic—24 hours a day when conditions permitted, for several weeks each year, over several years.

They documented details on many hundreds of hunts, and no bear was ever seen putting a paw over its nose while stalking a seal. Nor, to our knowledge, have other polar bear biologists ever observed this behavior. Imagine just how a bear might walk, crawl, or stalk on three legs while holding its paw over its nose for an extended period, since most hunts on the sea ice cover between 50 to 200 meters (165 - 656 feet).

Source:
http://polarbearsinternational.org/polar-bears/myth-busters/
Click to expand...
Clever! It's aware that its breath could give it away.
 
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