Bear wedding Bashny.Net

May and June in the Valley of Geysers, we, members of the Kronotsky Nature Reserve, are living under siege. At this time, the surrounding mountains still covered with snow all over the place, and only heated by volcanic heat side of the canyon of the river Geyser form the first oasis of green grass, which fared collected dozens of bears. It is also a time to bear weddings. Animals that live in the reserve, which is already not avoid people, and in the spring they just lose their caution hormone of love. Therefore, we are always on the lookout. Even along the path from the house to the outhouse you can run into trouble, and spend a couple of hours on the roof or top of the birch. The local bears have a bad habit a couple of hours to take a nap under a tree, in which man is saved, though the desperate cries and emotional stream of profanity will not spoil the beasts sleep.

9 photos and letters © Igor Shpilenok





His shaggy neighbors we know well not only in person (face?). Thanks to our senior colleague Vitaly Nikolayenko, who studied bears in the Kronotsky Nature Reserve for over thirty years, we know the history of the lives of many of them. For a long time the mistress of the Valley of Geysers was Temnolapka bear. In his youth, he loved to look in the windows of houses, relied on glass legs, came close to the tourists and even went after them on an excursion to the geysers. For these sins immobilize her "fly" with a syringe and a helicopter were taken away from the Valley and tourists. A few days later she came back and again began to approach the buildings and people. Administration reserve she was sentenced to death, but none of the three employees then working in the Valley, not raised a hand to carry it out. From cordon Zhupanova inspector was sent on foot, ready to shoot Temnolapku, but an hour before his arrival, she suddenly disappeared and only appeared the following spring with a small bear. Tourists no longer pursue it, but still likes to "play" with the familiar to her people, for example, inspectors reserve. "The Game" is that Temnolapka suited to the man silently back and enjoy the view of unexpected fright. More than once it happened that in the mating season Temnolapka led directly to our house huge overexcited males, so we do not leave home without cans of pepper gas, hand flares or shotguns, rubber bullets and charged flares.

Mating season, which bears called rutting, lasts from May to the end of July. Males begin to pay much attention to labeling territory: they rub against the "carding" trees, bushes, stones, to leave to them the smell of his suint ... In addition, they make "katalischa" on which they trample the grass, torn ground, urinate. In some areas of its trails, the males go "stilted" step with the force pushing paws into the ground, knocking the original pit. Each animal has its own individual odor, and leaving it on the marking points, he seems to be recorded in the local bear soobschestve.U males and females decreases their inherent aggressiveness in a different time for each other. The smell of the females is attractive to males. Sometimes the trail of one female are a few contenders.
Entertaining to watch the bear and the bear are introduced at the first meeting. They start sniffing distance of each other, then pulled to one another with outstretched necks and outstretched as if to kiss her lips. They stress sniff each other, then the female moves or runs away, as if inviting to the game. The game - the most important element of communication in animals it establishes trust with each other.
Bears - polygamous animals. Female benevolent to all but the strongest male drives away other applicants and often becomes the father of the future cubs. While I watched, that is one giant chase one down the mountainside, unimposing size, but resourceful Samchyky time to pass on their genes resourcefulness loving female in this period. But usually the dominant male does not admit to his chosen female Lovelace other for a few hundred meters. Between equal in strength males at this time fights happen. Actually, I have not seen any old male, not adorned with severe scars and sometimes injuries.

Eight months later, during the next hibernation den, the bear will bear fruit in the present love - from one to four tiny cubs, the future owners of the taiga.

Bear rubs marking tree, leaving him his own individual scent.



Weaker bidder with his ears with fear, is saved from an angry dominant.



Romantic dating procedure.



And no less romantic game.



Bride and groom.



Bearish pairing is more like rape: the male holds his girlfriend tightly teeth of the withers and forelegs compresses her body.



During the peak of the rut bears passionate about each other, and the "wedding," the photographer easier to approach them to the set distance. I succeeded several times



And there were times when the male behaved so aggressively that I had to work around the wedding party. This is one of those moments. Bears mate in the snow field on the background of the volcano zubchatki, but the paparazzi did not dare to come close, as close was not a single tree on which it was possible to escape in case of attack. Only when the bears cool down in the snow after a stormy love, I ventured to approach them about fifty meters, while the male watching me peripheral vision.



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