December 13, Russia celebrates the Day of the Bear. This mighty animal is more than just a predator for our country
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Did you know that the word "bear" itself is a fake name for our Russian bear? Yes, and it did not appear until the eleventh century. "A bear or a honey-eater" - this was the name of the owner of the forest, because his true name was tabooed, it was forbidden to pronounce it in everyday speech. Dictionary Vladimir Dahl Dictionary The name of the beast is as many as 37 names: Bear, Knee Bear, Potapych, Toptygin, Kostoprav, Kutsyy, Kosmach, - so they called the one who was too harsh and dangerous and could really show up at the call. In the darkness of millennia, the original name of the oblique has not survived. Most likely, it derives from the common Indo-European root "rxos" or "rktos", from which the ancient Greek name of the bear - arctos and the Latin - ursos came. Linguists believe that King Arthur, the Arctic, and even Russia itself came from the bear-ursus. The Germanic languages also use a derivative of the Indo-European root "bher" - brown, brown. It is funny that "brown bear" in Latin is "ursusarctos" - such difficulties of translation!
The first pancake is a coma.
Our pagan ancestors thought of bears as relatives. For some people the bear was a totemic ancestor, for others a man was turned into a bear for his trespasses. The cult of the bear, which was also an incarnation of the god Veles, was accompanied by elaborate rituals that were intended to placate the bear, the owner of the forest and the guardian of its wealth. It was believed that during the winter solstice, the bear in the den turns from side to side - and the year turns to spring in its wake. The most important holiday of this cult was the so-called Komov Day, the holiday of the awakening bear. And as the lair was considered an entrance to the world of the dead, so long as its guardian slept, the entrance to and exit from the kingdom of Navia was reliably guarded. The Day of Kom was celebrated on March 24. At the same time an effigy of Winter-Moraine was burnt, the hostesses baked pancakes, and children took some of the pastries to the wood and spread them on a stump or hung on branches so that a waking bear could be refreshed. The fact that in the olden days a bear could also be called a koma is evidenced by the name of the bear's favorite berry, comanica, which means cloudberry in the northern regions and blackberry in the southern regions. Perhaps the proverb "The first pancake is a pancake" suggests that the first treat should have been given to ancient spirits-protectors or simply bears.
Siberian legends tell us that our world is nothing more than a dream that sees a huge bear. He sleeps restlessly and restlessly and is disturbed by the noise and bustle of people. But one day it will wake up, and then the entire underworld and you and I will come to an end. But apparently, we skipped the danger, because shamans have calculated the day of the Great Bear's awakening, and he has already passed in 2006.
Mama Bears Nursing Their Cubs Alone - Males Don't Care About Offspring
Magical properties of amulets with a bear
Each bear amulet has exceptional magical properties. A powerful amulet not only helps the wearer to combat difficulties, but also requires him to meet certain standards: to be fair, honest, practical, firm in spirit and courageous.
On a side note! "If the owner of a bear talisman is weak, cowardly or has a tendency to deceive, the spirit of the talisman will simply begin to suppress such a person."
Review of the money amulet from Svetlana Basharova:
HOW I GOT RICH THANKS TO A SIMPLE TRINKET? Good day dear friends! Today I would like to share with you a very unusual story that recently happened to me. Two months ago I was working as an ordinary cashier in a construction store. One day there was a very nice woman who was standing in line at my cash register. She was buying some small items for the house. This woman was in a great mood. When it was time to pay, she handed me five thousand rubles and said: "Thank you, I'll keep the change. The amount of purchases she had was 809 rubles, which surprised me a lot... Read more "
Having a bear amulet is like having a hunting or fighting dog at home. When the owner doesn't dominate his pet with serious genes, expect problems.
The bear claw has a special magic. It clears the way for its bearer. Unleashes his talents, gives him the strength to resist evil. Claw cope with spoilage, evil eye and dark spirits that may try to attack man. Shamans use a bear claw to prevent natural disasters. In Tuvinians, simply by waving the claw at the sky, it was possible to calm the raging elements. This is a well-known phenomenon in the history of the Tuvinian people. Claw helps and from insomnia, and nightmares.
Widespread amulet bear claw helps people to achieve wealth and prosperity. Today, the claw is used as a talisman in the form of a seal. This seal helps merchants and fighters for justice to achieve their goals. In addition, the amulet awakens in the wearer the magical abilities given to him by nature. With the help of a paw, it is possible to strengthen clairvoyance. The owner of the amulet intensifies intuition. If a person with a talisman owns a large household, it is sure to expand it or put in order.
The image of the head of a bear or beast as a whole, attracts love to the one who wears such an amulet. The Slavs believed that the master of the forest protects families, promotes procreation and fidelity of both spouses.
A bear's tooth gives the wearer wisdom and insight. Talisman brings success in business, contributes to the development of their own business, and helps in the fight against competition. Tooth or fang drives away evil, gives the strength to cope with difficulties. The talisman also conveys qualities one possesses as a bear. Under the influence of the amulet, a person becomes strong, prudent, healthy and serious.
The above amulets can be worn by both men and women who worship nature and the Slavic pantheon of Gods. Women with a mild character under the action of such talismans become stronger and calmer. In the bear amulets male energy, but a ban on their wearing for women. Under the action of the bear charms, women become more economical, rational and sensible. They are great mothers, wives and hostesses.
From feces, grass, and wool.
Question for a puzzle: how does a bear manage during hibernation not to urinate and not to defecate? After all, winter sleep can last up to five to six months!
When preparing for hibernation, a bear first cleans its stomach by eating grass in large quantities, and then defecates copiously until its digestive system is completely empty. After that, he eats a good portion of clay, earth, and may eat pine needles or a rotting stump. As a result, the digestive process stops, and a cork is formed in the intestine, thanks to which the bear does not end up in a puddle of sewage in the spring. To make sure the construction is safe, the bear can roll around on the clay slide, so that the holes are plugged on the outside as well. The bear also covers its ears with clay, to prevent insects from getting in.
From hunters who found all this unappetizing brick in the animal's body, another version of its origin. Some people in all seriousness believe that bears deliberately prepare these clay plugs, which they shove up their anus. It seems that not only do they help them not to shit themselves, but they also prevent insects from getting in. This, of course, is fiction.
The bear really needs to be thoroughly prepared for hibernation. First of all, it has to build up a substantial layer of subcutaneous fat, up to 8 to 12 cm. Altogether fat reserves make up to 40 percent of a bear's weight! It is this fat, accumulated during summer and autumn, which the bear feeds on in winter, thus surviving the harsh winter period with the least amount of troubles. At the same time his whole body switches to an energy-saving mode, because all metabolic processes are slowed down. But all this happens much more rationally than in a starving person. Bones don't lose their strength, and nerve cells in the brain, which receives 90 percent less oxygen, don't die off.
In spring, however, the bear's main task is to push out the now interfering plug. Usually, the bear manages to crack it from outside by rubbing its "tender spots" against the stump. And then it is a matter of technique. Another thing is that it is not easy to push out a dense brick with the thickness of a good fist. So, the spring forest is often heard with the howling of pushing bears.
The Slavic deity Veles appeared to people in the form of a bear. An imprint of his feet called the seal of Veles.
A place for a tattoo
The choice of place for the bear tattoo depends on personal preferences of the person and the size of the inscribed pattern. Very often men stop at the shoulders - this part of the body is one of the most convenient to place the muzzle or paw of the animal. Next in popularity are the chest and back - a large area of the skin allows you to stuff almost any drawing, be it the head of an animal or a few bears in the woods.
Girls often choose arms or legs to create small tattoos with bears. Cartoon characters or characters from movies can be an idea for a drawing: Winnie the Pooh, Teddy bear and others. They can symbolize childhood memories, carefree of the wearer or be made in honor of her child. But sometimes they do not carry any hidden meaning, but are just a fun decoration on the body.
Tell your friends:
Give birth and don't wake up
A bear's labor is a dream come true! The female wakes up briefly to push the cub out and pull it closer to the nipple, and then she goes back to bed. The cubs are born at the beginning of winter, and in spring quite strong, shaggy, hairy leopard cubs run out of the den. By the way, female polar bears also hibernate, while males continue hunting and guarding the sleep of their mates, who also give birth in their sleep.
The weight of a newborn cub is 350 g, and the weight of a female bear is 300 kg. If a human cub weighed 50 grams, we could give birth in our sleep and not even notice it.
Origin of the species and description
Photo: Polar Bear
According to recent studies, scientists have concluded that the polar bear, as a species, appeared quite recently through rapid evolution. The species is estimated to be only 150,000 years old. Although we cannot fully rely on this information, because collecting the genetic material of this animal has its own difficulties. It is very rare to find remains in the ice, perhaps a lot about these animals is still stored there.
So, the polar bear belongs to the class of mammals, order of predators, suborder of cattle, family of bears, genus bears. It is also called the polar bear, more rarely the northern or sea bear. Polar bears are thought to have evolved from brown bears through evolution and adaptation to the northern polar latitudes.
Video: Polar Bear
Already in this century, evidence of the existence of an intermediate species - the giant polar bear, its bones are one and a half times larger than those of the modern bear, the findings are limited to a few bones. The DNA of this species is similar to that of both the brown bear and the modern polar bear. Therefore, it can be considered an intermediate evolutionary species.
The diversity of species in the course of evolution is excluded, the animals are very limited by their living conditions and type of food. It is one of the strongest and most dangerous predators. Its body is very massive: it reaches 3 meters in length and up to 1.5 meters at the withers. The weight of this animal is very large: the largest males weigh 800 - 1000 kg, the females are much smaller and the largest of them almost 400 kg.
How Yaroslav killed the "dear beast" with an axe
The bear is a widespread heraldic symbol. He is depicted on the coats of arms of Perm, Yekaterinburg, Novgorod, Norilsk, Syktyvkar, Khabarovsk, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, as well as Berlin, Bruges and others.
In Russia, perhaps the most famous "bear coat of arms" in Yaroslavl. And here's why.
Once upon a time, at the confluence of the Volga and Kotorosl rivers, where the regional capital is located, there were "people of the pagan faith" who worshipped idols. There lived "people of the pagan faith", worshipped idols, and most importantly, the sanctuary of pagans was dedicated to the "cattle god" Veles. From the "Tale of the construction of the city of Yaroslavl" we learn that, when Prince YaroslavLater nicknamed Wise, arrived in this region from the capital Rostov, he was met with an unkind welcome. The bear-eaters set upon him an enraged bear. But Prince Yaroslav was not a timid sort, he defeated the bear in a fair fight, and the villagers submitted to his will and were baptized into the Orthodox faith. On the place where Yaroslav killed the "fierce beast" with his axe was erected Elijah the Prophet church. So in place of the Bear Corner appeared city of Yaroslavl.
What does the totem bear teach?
To learn to perceive the dense "earthly" energies, a person is subjected to moral and physical tests. Modern people usually don't perceive such energies well, because they are too tied to society and literally disconnected from the earth, their roots.
A person whose totem becomes this animal will be strong and powerful physically. He will feel the need to join a gym, to begin to build muscle mass.
A leering dog will strengthen the intuition of the "mentee.
This animal will make available to you all internal sources of energy, teach you to take from them the resources necessary for survival. With his help, you will understand how to tune in to the inner ree. It will teach you how to determine which foods, activities, friends, etc. are good for you and which are bad for you.
This animal helps his "charges" to establish a connection with the primordial forces, nature, earth, ancestors, clan. It endows with a piercing force, the ability to break through, at any cost to achieve their goals, to defend the boundaries, to assert themselves. The oblique teaches you not to dwell on minor problems.
Head off the shoulders
The most bearish city in Europe is Bern, Switzerland. Its symbol was a severed bear's head, the hunting trophy of the city's founder, Duke Berthold von Zeringen. One theory has it that the successful hunter built the town to commemorate the moment his spear struck down a mother bear and her two cubs - not at all a chivalrous act. To this day you will be haunted by images of bears in Bern. There is also a bear on the logo of a Swiss chocolate producer.
Constellation of the Big Dipper
The ancient Greeks considered the bear a sacred animal of the moon goddess Artemis. Priestesses of this goddess were called the Bear, and wore bear skins at first, and later imitating their yellow tunics. A sacred bear lived in the temple of the goddess. During the Artemis Mysteries in Attica the priestesses performed the cult dance of the bear and offered this animal as a sacrifice to the goddess. According to legend, Zeus fell in love with the nymph Callisto, Artemis' companion.
Since the goddess' companions were forbidden to marry, Zeus appeared to her in the form of Artemis. Callisto bore him a son, Arcadian, who became a great hunter. When Hera learned of her husband's relationship with the nymph, she turned Zeus' mistress into a bear. Arcadus almost killed his mother by mistake while hunting, but Zeus managed to bring Callisto up into the sky in the form of the constellation of the Great Bear. The Greeks could see the constellation of the Big Dipper in the north, low above the horizon. They believed that only bears lived in the midnight land, from which the word "Arctic", i.e. the land of bears (in Greek "arktos" - bear), comes from. The ancient Slavs called this constellation after the lunar goddess Makosh - wife of Veles, one of whose sacred animals was a bear.
J. Thornhill. The constellation of the Great Bear.
П. Rubens. Jupiter and Callisto.
Population and status of the species
Photo: Red Book polar bear
The total number of polar bears, according to the latest data, is 20-25 thousand. However, scientists predict that the number of polar bears will decrease by one third by 2050.
Territorially, there are three polar bear populations:
- Chukotka-Alaska;
- Kara-Barents Sea;
- Laptevskaya.
In Russia, polar bears are listed in the Red Book as a vulnerable species. The increase in the number of polar bears is doubtful: they reproduce slowly, and the number of deaths does not fall. Despite bans on shooting bears, many become victims of poachers for the sake of the pelt or even just hunting excitement. Moreover, the physical condition of the animals is deteriorating.
Scientists predict warming, which does not bode well for the species. The melting ice deprives bears of their main habitat and hunting grounds, starves them and dies before their time, even before they have time to leave their offspring. Habitat ecology has deteriorated over the past decades, which also affects population numbers and shortens the lifespan of individuals.
Natural enemies of polar bears
Photo: Siberian polar bear
Among the inhabitants of the north, the polar bear has few enemies. There are few more that can cope with an adult species. However, it happens that while swimming and diving, while the bear is hunting itself, it can be attacked by walrus adults with huge tusks, and sometimes attacked by killer whales - large marine predators.
Speaking about the enemies of polar bears it is worth noting how dangerous it can be for their cubs. They are so helpless that being away from their mothers can easily fall prey to all terrestrial predators:
- Wolves;
- Arctic foxes;
- Dogs;
- Birds of prey.
If the mother is spotted or moves away for prey, the cubs are immediately exposed to danger, unreasonable and stupid they themselves can rush to their death. Even when they are officially protected, bears often fall victim to poachers. Man was, is, and remains the main enemy of polar bears.
Where does the polar bear live?
Photo: Polar Bear Red Book
The bear is accustomed to the cold, thanks to it this species appeared, and life in such conditions suits him. Near the habitat must necessarily be the presence of the ocean. Bears can't go far away from the land, but they can safely swim on the ice. Surprisingly, these animals can swim away from shore even a hundred kilometers.
The record distance for a bear to swim away from shore was recorded as 600 km. In the water, of course, they hope to catch their prey. That is why they are sometimes called sea bears.
The maximum number of individuals live on the coast of the Arctic Ocean. These northern bears inhabit the coldest islands in the world, such as the islands of Canada and Greenland, the islands of all the northern seas surrounding Eurasia, viz: Barents Sea, Chukchi Sea, East Siberian Sea, Sea of Okhotsk, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea and Beaufort Sea. The southernmost areas of polar bear habitat are the territory of Alaska and the coast of Norway. It is not uncommon for bears to come close to infrastructures during hunger days in search of food, it is often reported in the news.
In captivity, bears are kept in enclosures with a large pool. They need water all the time, especially in the summer. In the heat in the zoo you can often see a polar bear jumping into the water, swimming and playing in it, and only comes out on dry land to plunge again.
