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Bears Podcast for Kids · STEM Archives - The Children's Hour

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Coming up on The Children's Hour, we meet the legendary Dr. Lynn Rogers from the North American
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Bear Center, a research facility and rescue center in Ely, Minnesota. Dr. Rogers is known
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for his Think Like a Bear research studies, which enabled him to establish trust with
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a pack of bears. He was able to enter their dens and spend hours by their sides. We learn
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the facts about bears and what to do if we see one in the wild. And... how they communicate
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their anxiety and fear. This episode is mixed with very inspired music. Stick with us for
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The Children's Hour coming right up. The Children's Hour is an independent production of The Children's
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Hour Incorporated, a New Mexico based non-profit. We're distributed by Native Voice One, the
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Native American radio network. It's time for The Children's Hour, Kids Public Radio.
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What's a bear's favorite ice cream? I don't know what! Straw-bear-ry! It's time for The Children's
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Hour! Kids Public Radio!
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We've got a learning guide with this episode. Find it at childrenshour.org, look for "Bears"
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If you go down to the woods today, you're sure of a big surprise. If you go down to
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the woods today, you better go in disguise. For every bear that ever there was, we'll
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gather there for certain because today's the day. Teddy bear must have their pick, oh Nick.
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Every teddy bear who's been good, is sure of a treat today. There's lots of marvelous
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things to eat, and wonderful games to play. Beneath the trees, where nobody sees They'll
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hide and seek, as long as they please Cause that's the way, teddy bears have their picnic
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Picnic uh time for teddy bears. The little teddy bears are having a lovely time today.
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Watch them, catch them on a whiz and see them picnic on their holiday. See them giddily
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get about They love to pinch out, they never have any kids At six o'clock their mommies
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and daddies will take them home to bed Because they're tired little teddy bears oh
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you
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In the woods today, you bed and-
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It's lovely down in the woods today, but safer to stay at home. Every bear that ever there
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was will gather there together because today's the day that teddy bears have their picnic.
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Today's the day that teddy bears have their picnic.
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That's Jerry Garcia and David Grisman from their "Not for Kids Only." I'm Katie Stone. You're
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listening to The Children's Hour and I'm here with a whole lot of great kids online right
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now. Hello everyone. Hello. And who's with us today? Hi, it's Amaya. Hi, it's Kodiak.
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Hi, it's Lucasti. Hello, it's Amadeus. Hi, it's Raymond. Hi, it's Thaniel. Hi, it's Caibiya.
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Hi, it's Asa. Hi, it's Max. Hi, it's Kilian. Well, everyone, I am so excited to be with
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you today on The Children's Hour because today we're going to learn about one of my favorite
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types of animals of all. And I say types of animals because there's lots of this animal,
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lots of different breeds and varieties. I'm talking about bears. I know we have Kodiak
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here. You're named after a bear. Is that because you love bears? I think I was named before
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I really knew if I love bears or not. That's fair. No, it's not fair. It's bear. Oh, that
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was good. Is anyone else tied to bears, loves bears, have a relationship with bears? Yeah.
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Raymond. A little. A little. Tell us about it. I like bears. I like bears too. Well, they're definitely
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my favorite meat eater. Meat eaters. Well, we're gonna learn about that. Like, are bears
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only meat eaters? Are they even meat eaters? I mean, I think maybe, yeah, they eat fish.
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Thaniel? I think bears are kind of scary. They live oftentimes kind of close to human settlements,
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and I feel like that can be a little intimidating. Yeah, because I think we think of them as
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these kind of like big, untrained, scary, furry, almost like dogs in a way, but they're like
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way bigger and they have these big snouts and big teeth and, and they do roar which is always
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a scary thing. Anyone else have a relationship with bears? I like bears. You like bears? Tell
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us about it. Well I think they're kind of like just big furry hamster. And that's why I think
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they're very cute. Aww they are so cute and so many of us were given teddy bears as little
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kids like when we were first born, and I bet a lot of people in our listening audience have
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teddy bears too. Well, stick with us on The Children's Hour. We're going to meet somebody
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who has dedicated his life to understanding bears. His name is Dr. Lynn Rogers. He's from
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the North American Bear Center in Ely, Minnesota. Stick with us. This is The Children's Hour.
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I went to his room in the middle oh of side and I turned on the light and to my surprise
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he was nowhere in sight because my Uncle Walter goes waltzing at night he goes wah wah wah
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waltzing waltzing with bears raggy bears maggie bears shaggy bears too there's nothing on earth
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Uncle Walter won't do so he can go waltzing wah wah wah waltzing he can go waltzing go
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waltzing with me We gave Uncle Walter a new coat to wear But when he came home it was
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covered with air And lately I've noticed several new tears I'm sure Uncle Walter's been waltzing
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with bears He goes, wa-wa-wa-waltzing waltzing with bears Raggy bears, baggy bears, shaggy
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bears too There's nothing on earth Uncle Walter won't do So he can go waltzing wa-wa-wa He
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can go waltzing, go waltzing with me.
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He told Uncle Walter that he should be good and do all the things we said that he should.
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But I know he would rather be off in the woods, I'm afraid. was Uncle Walter for good because
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Wawawawaltzen waltz'n with bears. Raggy bears, baggy bears, shaggy bears do. There's nothing
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on earth Uncle Walter won't do. So he can go waltz'n. Wawawawaltzen. He can go waltz'n.
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Go waltz'n with bears. We begged and we pleaded. Oh please, Walter, stay! to keep him home for
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a day. But the bears all barged in and they dragged him away. Now he's dancing with pandas,
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he won't understand us. The bears all demand at least one dance a day. Because wah wah
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wah waltzing waltzing with bears. Raggy bears, baggy bears, shaggy bears too. There's nothing
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on Uncle Walter won't do so. He can go waltzing. Wa wa waltzing. He can go waltzing. Go waltzing
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with him. That's Bayou Seco out of Silver City, New Mexico. You're listening to The Children's
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Hour. I'm Katie Stone and delighted to be with all of you out in listener land and everyone
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here on Zoom who's on the kids crew. And today we have a very exciting show because we're
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learning about bears. Our guest is Dr. Lynn Rogers. Dr. Rogers is a biologist and he studies
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black bears and he's known as the Jane Goodall of bears. Welcome to The Children's Hour. Thanks
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for having me. Can you hug bears like Jane Goodall? I started out afraid of bears. I grew up afraid
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of them. Everything I heard about them sounded dangerous. But then as I got studying them,
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Eventually, I realized they're not as bad as I thought. Not as scary, huh? Right. Well,
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I'd see them acting blustery, like they were going to do something bad. But I never saw
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them follow through. Maybe they'd lunge at me and slap the ground and blow. And I thought,
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boy, that looks scary. Does that mean he's warning me that he's going to attack? They never did.
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So eventually I realized, boy, I might be able to do what Jane Goodall did with chimpanzees.
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I might be able to walk with bears and really learn about them. Because all the stuff I'd
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done before that was capture them, tranquilize them, put radio collars on them, get up an
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airplane, put dots on maps, see how they moved around. And I thought I knew a lot about bears.
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But when I really started learning is when I started to overcome my fear and could learn
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their language and I had to adjust my thinking because I still had some fear, and it worked
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better if I would interpret their behavior in terms of their fear rather than my fear. How
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many different types of bears are there and where do they live around the world? There's
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eight kinds of bears, three of them in North America, the polar bear, the brown bear, also
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called the grizzly bear, and black bears. In Europe, they have brown bears. They're about
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the same species. And then there's the moon bear in Asia. There's the sun bear down in
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South America. And sloth bears in Asia. Which are not related to sloths. Right. Yes. Right.
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They're a different critter. We certainly have a lot to learn. So we start with, there's
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eight kinds and they're found really in a lot of parts of the world. And we're going to post
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a map of that so that you can see where they are. You can find that at ChildrensHour.org.
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Look for this episode, Bears. Is it true that bears like honey or is that just a big myth?
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Yes, I've seen them eat honey but when they get to a beehive what they're really after
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is the young bees, and they'd rather have that with the protein and all than just the sugar
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in honey. How do they catch the bees? They find a beehive, they tear it open, sometimes
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they have to use their teeth to get something apart. Sometimes they have to use their lips.
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But what they often do is just stick their tongue out and they curl the tip down and
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that area of the tongue just above the tip somehow, and I don't know how they do it, but
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somehow things stick to that. But when you touch the tongue, it's not sticky. There's still
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some mysteries about bears. Bears have enough fur. Most of the year they have at least two
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inches and when they really have big fur it's like four or five inches deep. So it's hard
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for the bees to get down, but the bear is trying to get them with its mouth and they have very
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short hair on the muzzle. So that's where they would get stung. And on the ears. Do we
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consider bees meat? I think so, right? Like, so that's like not necessarily vegetarian.
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Well, it depends on the kind of bear. Polar bears eat mostly meat. Black bears eat mostly
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vegetation, insects. Well, that's kind of meat, yeah, but it's berries, nuts are the big favorites.
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You talked a little bit about the different types of bears. And there seem to be a huge
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variety. So what I'm wondering, what is a bear actually? What makes a bear a bear? Bears
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are actually in the dog family, but dogs are more group living animals, where bears are
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mostly solitary. And they're big, strong animals, all of them. And they're some of the smartest
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animals on the planet. You're hearing from one of the world's foremost bear researchers.
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His name is Dr. Lynn Rogers. He is the founder of the North American Bear Center in Ely, Minnesota.
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And you're listening to The Children's Hour where we're learning about bears.
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This is Lyle Lovett, right here on The Children's Hour.
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Some folks say there ain't no bears in Arkansas Some folks never seen a bear at all Some
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folks say the bears go round eating Davis Roe Some folks got a bear across the hole Some
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folks say the bears go round smelling bears folks say that a bear is honey sweet Some folks
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say this bear is the best I ever had Some folks got a bear beneath their Some folks drive the
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bears out of the wilderness Some to see a bear or a
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Just bear up to my business Some folks you can see in
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Some folks drive the bears out of It's time to see if it will pay for I just bear up to
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my bill, well the best Some folks even seen the bear So meet a bear and take him on out
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to lunch with you Even though your friends may stop and stare
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So meet up there and take him on out to lunch with you friends may stop instead I just
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remember that's a bear there And I'm much with you And it just don't come no better than a
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bear
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You're listening to The Children's Hour, Kids Public Radio. We'll be right back. The Children's
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Hour is a production of The Children's Hour, Inc. We're a New Mexico-based nonprofit organization
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slash traditions.
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there.
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This is The Children's Hour. You just heard Black Bear by Black Bear. And we're thinking
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about bears because we're learning about bears. We're joined today by Lynn Rogers. Dr. Rogers
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is the director and founder of the North American Bear Center. It is in Ely, Minnesota. And
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he joins us from Ely. The kids have a lot of questions for you. Let's go over to Marcel.
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How big are bears? Well, the Sun Bear is the smallest bear. They'd be like a hundred pounds.
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But black bears, the heaviest one on record is nine hundred and two pounds. But when I
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look at a bear, I'm not thinking really how big it is. I'm just thinking, what is its temperament?
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What is its personality? And is this the bear I can get to know? Because the way, the way
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I do research, I started out by capturing bears, tranquilizing them so they wouldn't hurt me
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and they'd hold still, let me take measurements. I really wasn't learning a lot about what bears
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are really like. So your interest was really more into their behavior and their lifestyle
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and things like that. That's the stuff I had to learn to really know their ways and their
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needs. That's what I had to know to know if I could be close to a bear without getting
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hurt, as I got to know that they're not the dangerous animals I thought, that they can
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build trust. And once they trust you, they don't do their blustery, scary stuff. They
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just do that because they are feeling anxiety. And when they're not feeling anxiety anymore,
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they're just calm and I can walk with them, spend the night with them right next to them,
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and never have to worry. How old do bears typically live and does that change a lot whether they're
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in captivity or not? Well, yes, they have a better chance of living into their 30s if they're
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in captivity. but most of them die in their 20s. It just depends on, it depends on so
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much. The fear of bears is so prominent that in many places, if people see a bear that
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has lost some fear of people, then they fear that here's a bear that would dare to attack
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and kill me. People feel way better if they see a bear running away. Well, I mean, I have
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to admit I've seen a bear in the wild and I felt better when it ran away. I did. And I
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was scared when it was near me because there was a part of me, instinctively it felt like,
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that knew I should be careful. Because they're powerful. And I think we have a natural fear
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of any animal that has bigger, more pointed teeth than we have. That seems like a reasonable
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fear, you know, of animals with big teeth. It's an animal that could do some damage. But what I have
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done with bears actually is as I got to know them and I started thinking about their behavior
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in terms of their fear rather than my fear. And if I'd see a bear jump towards me and slam
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its feet down and blow. look really scary, I'd say, I'm sorry Bear, here let me lay down.
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Do you feel better now? What I wanted to do for research is be trusted, like Jane Goodall
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was with the chimpanzees. So I would act in ways that would build trust, not build fear.
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Then I'd lay down, I'd throw food to them, I'd throw it closer and closer. And they dared
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to come closer if I was laying down. And as time went on, the bears that really trusted
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me would ignore me. They'd just go about their lives. That meant I could learn a lot. I could
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be with a mother with cubs in the woods. She wouldn't think about attacking me. He's just
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there. He's part of the woodwork. And as they grew to ignore me, then I could be right with
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them, within touching distance, and then I could count how many bites they take of each
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food, in each habitat, how they spend their time. I'd end up with 24 hours of complete
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data what a bear does in a day. It just makes a person feel comfortable with a wild bear
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that trusts you. Now not all bears can become trusting. I think about bear behavior, everything
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I say, like a bell-shaped curve. So what that means is like most of the bears behave in this,
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like in the center, like this, but some bears are a little one way and some bears are a little
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another way, just kind of like people. I was wondering, so if you could have like a dog
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as a pet, could you have a bear as a pet? Some people do. Actually, there's a time in their
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life when they decide what is good and bad around them. And that's between six and twelve weeks
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of age. That's when they're a little newborn cub in a den, and at six weeks they start
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to open their eyes. At about twelve weeks they leave the den. Well, during that six week
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period they decide who's good and who's bad. And if you get a bear when it's that age,
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it will bond with you. After that, it's harder to get it to bond with you. That's why the
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bears that I walk with are not bonded with me. They just ignore me because I'm nothing to
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them. It's probably terribly unkind to take a bear between six weeks and 12 weeks old.
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It's certainly not the life it would want. But when we have seen bears in places like circuses,
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that must be how they tamed them and trained them. Bears that they want to train, the 6
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to twelve week period is when they bond with their owner who is feeding them bottles and stuff
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to raise them so that they trust each other. And then as they get older and older, they
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train the bears using food. You get a treat if you do this. Ah. Our guest is Dr. Lynn Rogers.
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And he has shown the world that bears are not as scary as we might think at first. We have
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a lot more questions for him and a lot more to learn about bears. You're listening to The
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Children's Hour, stick with us. If you care about bears, should be aware There are eight
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unique species to compare Some are fairly common, some extremely rare We have a few bare
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facts to share I'm talking about Polar Bears, Sun Bears, Moon Bears, Sloth Bears, Spectacled
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Panda, Brown Bear, Black Bear, One thing in common, they love to eat. We've named all
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eight, now let's repeat. Polar Bears, Sun Bear, Moon Bears, Sloth Bears, Spectacled Panda,
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Brown Bear, Black Bear, What makes a brown bear different from a black? Let's go down the list,
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share a few more facts.
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Polar bears are pigeon-toed, they walk on ice, blend in with the snow, but they're really
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not white. Their skin is black, their fur is clear, they come from the Arctic far away from
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here. bears love to eat honey and bees, they climb through the trees like chimpanzees from
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Southeast Asia, smallest bear of all. Some people say that they look like dogs. Moon bears also
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called Asian blacks On their chest is a large, light triangle patch They live in trees Throughout
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the year They got a fluffy black collar and Mickey Mouse ears Sloth bears Black and shaggy
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with long white claws People used to think they were related to sloths Bull with a snout tongue
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hanging to the ground They suck up bugs with a slurping sound Spectacle bears
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They get their name from a pattern on their face Only bear found in South America today
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Build nesting trees by folding leaves Mothers sing their cubs to sleep Panda bear has mysterious
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ways They eat bamboo twelve hours a day In an all green forest, they're black and white
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Didn't quite get the camouflage right Even so, they're still hard to find Their population
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is in decline Trying to protect the remaining few But they don't seem to like to have babies
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in zoos Brown bears have a big hump on their back Talkin' bout the grizzly and the Kodiak
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They're extremely fast, active after nightfall Most widely distributed bear of all There
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are far more black bears than any other kind Populated areas that don't seem to mind Sometimes
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are colored brown, cinnamon or white Much more active by day than night Polar bears, sun
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bears, moon bears, swamp bears Spectacle panda, brown bear, black bear One thing in common,
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they love to eat We've named all eight but no time to repeat We're getting to the end,
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just about through Hope you learned a little fast. That's Key Wilde and Mr. Clarke. You're
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listening to The Children's Hour. Our guest today is Dr. Lynn Rogers. He is a biologist who has
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spent his life studying bears. Kodiak. Where do bears live? It depends on what kind of
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bear it is. In North America, polar bears of course, live up in the Arctic. Do they make
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dens in the snow? Do they live in little snow dens? Yup, right they do. They find big piles
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of snow, they dig into them, they have their cubs in the winter, they snuggle the cubs
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to keep them warm. And we think of bears as living in things like caves and holes they
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dig. That's how they live, right? Like when we see a cave, there very well could be a bear
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at the back of that cave. Could be, yes. For black bears, they make any kind of den you
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could ever think of. Sometimes it's a burrow in the ground. Sometimes it's a hollow tree.
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Sometimes it's a big pile of grass that they raked up on the surface of the ground, usually
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where they can stay out of the wind. Yeah, it could be just about anything. Under somebody's
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porch. Wow. You've talked a little bit about how you've walked with bears and have fed them,
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but I don't think that's something lots of everyday people should do. So how should an everyday
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person act when they see a bear or they know they're in an area with bears? Well, if a person
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wants to feel totally safe, I would carry a little can of Halt. That's a kind of pepper
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spray. But. it's weaker than the usual pepper spray. Actually, I remember testing pepper
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spray. Then they said, yeah, but how do you know where the bear is not going to get mad
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and kill you? I said, I don't think it will. Well, nobody dared to test it. So I was the
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first one that tested pepper spray face to face with a bear without a fence between with wild
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bears. So we have you to thank for bear spray. That's pretty cool. You can learn more about
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what Dr. Rogers has written about this very topic. We've put links at childrenshour.org.
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Look for this episode, Bears. What do black bears prefer to eat? Actually, certain kinds
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of nuts are, I believe, their favorites. Hazelnuts, acorns, beech nuts, hickory nuts. They also
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like berries. But if those foods aren't available, like it was a frost or a drought and the berries
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didn't develop, then they're going to be eating more vegetation. And that would be like the
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nicest green young grasses where the nutrients are still in a fluid form and they're easy
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to digest. But not fish. Yes, they do. But when I have walked with bears that were in areas
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where they would be fishing, if there was a good berry crop back in the woods, they'd forget
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the fish and go back and eat berries. But on the other hand, brown bears get way bigger than
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grizzly bears because they have fish and that's a nutritious food. They prefer the fish eggs.
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If there's a lot of fish, they'll catch a fish, they'll bite the brain and eat the eggs.
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They leave the rest. If there's not a lot of fish and they're hungry, well, they'll eat
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the whole fish. What does a bear's fur feel like on different types? So what do the different
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types of fur feel like? Are they really soft? I'm imagining them feel a little bit like a
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kitten in there. It's not as fine a fur as a kitten. It's coarser fur, and two types.
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There's the guard hairs, that's the big fur that you see. Then under that is the under
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fur, and that's much finer fur, more like cat fur. They grow the under fur to keep them
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warm in winter. Then in the spring they lose the under fur and eventually they shed the
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guard hairs and start with brand new hair coming out, making a nice smooth look to their fur.
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Are pandas bears? Yes. But they're not true bears? Oh, they are not. Yeah. But they're the
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most vegetarian of the bears. They eat a lot of bamboo. I don't know any other bear that
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could survive like that. That's the voice of Dr. Lynn Rogers. He's the founder and principal
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biologist at the North American Bear Center in Ely, Minnesota. You're listening to The
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Children's Hour, Kids Public Radio. We'll be right back. The Children's Hour is making
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there. Share
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Some are soop-y-ole! Yogi Bear, that's a bear! Teddy Bear, that's a bear! Poo Bear, that's
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a bear! They're all bears! Fozzie Bear, that's a bear! Smokey Bear, that's a bear! Koala Bear!
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oh It's a marsupial! That's not a Bear is Scott and Rosanna, here on The Children's Hour where we're learning about what is a bear
42:18
with Dr. Lynn Rogers. He's the founder and chief biologist over at the North American
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Bear Center located in Ely, Minnesota. And Dr. Rogers, you've used some pretty extraordinary
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methods to learn about bears. One of the things you're famous for is you put a live webcam
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in a bear cave while there was a bear in the bear cave, was the bear in the bear cave when
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you did this? Oh yeah, right, yeah. It was one of the most popular live cams ever. It changed
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the way people thought bears behaved from then on. People started to see bears and think they're
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the cutest thing I've ever seen in my life. Yeah, but what happened was just amazing.
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I couldn't believe it. Two days later, that bear was the number one search topic on Google
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in the world. And people pretty soon were in 132 countries watching the mother give
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birth and then watching her tenderly care for the cubs, watch her lick the amniotic
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fluids and tissues off the cub, tuck the cub underneath her to keep it warm, and they saw
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how tenderly the mother cared for bears. People started to think of these as more thinking
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animals than ferocious animals. And it changed a lot of opinions around the world. Earlier,
43:55
you said that you knew that like a bear was a little bit annoyed with you when they made
44:00
a blow chomp sound. That was a bear expressing great anxiety. That was a bear that had just
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pounced to me, slammed its feet down and clacked its jaws together. That's what that clacking
44:24
was. That scared me for a long time because I thought, here it is showing me its big claws
44:32
coming through the air and slamming down to the ground, showing how hard they could slam,
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lunging toward you, coming way too close to feel comfortable, you know, like two, three
44:44
feet away. And then it blows, looks, sounds ferocious, clacks its jaws, which I thought
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was demonstrating its weapons. But then I realized eventually that that was just expressing their
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own anxiety. So I would say, I'm sorry bear, I'm scaring you. I'd lay down so it wouldn't
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be a threat. And then the bear would calm down. This is the sound of a nursing bear.
45:19
Yeah, that's several cubs, probably three cubs all nursing at the same time. They make that
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weird little sound, that weird little like, grrr. Yeah. When I get to a den of a female
45:31
in the winter, that's the sound I'm listening for. Does she have cubs? Oh, interesting.
45:35
So you can be outside the den. Can you hear this sound outside the den? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
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It carries for quite a ways. Wow. This is tongue clicking.
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Are you sure that's not you playing ping pong? No, that's what males sound like when they're
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approaching a female. That sound means I want to be near you. I wanted to ask the kids.
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I'm going to play this next one. I just want to know what emotion do you think the bear
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is trying to convey if you heard this?
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That sounds kind of sad. The situation of the mourning sound was it was a mother that
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had three cubs. One was missing and she's nursing the two cubs that she has, but she's making
46:54
this mourning sound missing that cub. But then when she got reunited with that cub, she stopped
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saying it right away. And she was just happy to have the cub back. And I asked a class of
47:11
kids in school once, what was that bear saying with that? And they said the bear was crying.
47:17
And I thought they got it right. That sounds so sad. Dr. Rogers, it has been a pleasure
47:25
to have you with us on The Children's Hour. Do you have any closing thoughts you'd like
47:29
to leave with our listeners about bears? It was a pleasure for me too. I like talking
47:35
about bears and here's people that have thought and thought with good questions. And thank
47:42
you very much for having me. Thank you so much for being with us. We've got links and so much
47:49
more posted at childrenshour.org. Look for this episode, Bears. This is Red Yarn, right here
47:59
on The Children's Hour.
48:07
I'm tell you a little story about Scary little story about Be careful when you're going out
48:19
For the nefarious, the notorious, the grizzly bear When they are out and walking out
48:29
world's just coming up and amping down When it's all ready, grizzly, grizzly, bam
48:57
from his shoulder They're busy, they're Wobblin' and squoppin' ass Stumpin' and jumpin' ass
49:23
you
49:48
He was beside me, he looked me in the eyes He said, better say the bible I was frozen
49:59
in my tracks, yeah I started slowly creeping back, yeah I spun and tore off in a flash,
50:07
Women were racing and chasing me, grizzly bear uh
50:19
you
50:28
baby
50:32
Best be he's with Lerun She is you Let him
51:15
You've been listening to The Children's Hour and we've been learning about bears today on
51:20
the show. Our guest was Dr. Lynn Rogers from the North American Bear Center in Ely, Minnesota.
51:27
The center is a unique place that is dedicated to teaching people all about bears, especially
51:33
the black bears that are native to North America. The center is home to several rescued black
51:39
bears to help educate visitors through live demonstrations and bear talks. And that helps
51:45
people understand and appreciate bears and their role in nature. There's a learning guide posted
51:53
with this episode. You can find it at childrenshour.org. Look for Bears. We have time for one more
52:00
story song for you. This is Fred Small, and it's a story about Larry the polar bear. It's
52:07
a true story. And I wonder if you were Larry the polar bear, what would you do? I'm Katie
52:14
Stone, we'll catch you next time for another edition of The Children's Hour. Thanks for
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listening.
52:30
In 1932, at a zoo in Los Angeles, a polar bear named Larry performed for the crowd.
52:41
They'd cheer aloud. He'd go slipping and sliding, jumping and diving. The people would laugh.
52:52
They took his photograph. you He grew older colder than Los Angeles which is warmer
53:13
than Alaska where Larry's parents were born Larry the polar bear He'd never harm a hare
53:30
On a child's head He'd do tricks for them At the Los Angeles Zoo As he'd been taught
53:40
to By his keeper friend Teach him new tricks. funny pose, scratching his nose. He knew
53:54
there'd be a fish at the end. Friend was his friend. One day she said, Larry, you'll be
54:02
in the movies with real movie stars and a few simple tricks and lots of fish to be filmed
54:14
on location in Alaska. So they rehearsed for Larry's big scene He was supposed to be mean
54:25
and growl at a woman Who was rescued by a man who scared him away It was stupid, but fun
54:35
to do The director would frown and jump up and down Kind of like the chimps at the zoo
54:53
uh He'd tricks for them at the Los Angeles Zoo As he'd been taught to by his keeper friend
55:07
At last came the day of the trip They put Larry in a crate, twelve foot by eight And he sailed
55:18
aboard a steamship The journey was long
55:27
Fran would visit. She'd talk to him and bring him his favorite fish. Then the noise and
55:38
the rumbling stopped and they lowered him down, set the crate on the frozen ground.
55:54
Fran said, Larry, we're here. It's time for your tricks And Larry appeared
56:10
He looked out at the gray-bearing sea He squinted and puzzled Put his nose to the wind And
56:20
the scent of the seal made him tremble He smelled the fox in its lair, and the weasel and hare
56:31
Felt like an unsnow beneath his paws, and he looked at the tundra and ice, looked at the
56:39
loon in the sky, and he ran.
56:49
Slowly and first
57:07
stronger to run and to swim to dive and to float to the core that is throat He uh
57:34
world
57:59
The Children's Hour is produced by The Children's Hour, Inc., a New Mexico nonprofit. You can
58:05
find photos, playlists, learning guides, and activities for every episode at childrenshour.org.
58:11
This episode of The Children's Hour was written and produced by me, Katie Stone, with help
58:16
from Sarah Gabrielli, Dan Kraker, Jackie Fulton, Thaniel Lentz, Isaac Lacerda, and McKenzie
58:22
Graunke. Our learning guides are written by Amber Shiel, and you can find this one at
58:27
Children'sHour.org. Look for bears. Find our podcast wherever you listen to podcasts or
58:33
go to our patreon.com slash The Children's Hour or ask your smart speaker to play The Children's
58:40
Hour podcast. RC music was written by CK Barlow. The Children's Hour is distributed by Native
58:48
Voice One, the Native American radio network. Thanks for listening to The Children's Hour.