“O Lord, how manifold [many] are Thy works! in wisdom hast Thou made them all: the earth is full of Thy riches.”
There are many bears in North America, including the black, the brown, the grizzly and the polar bear. The brown bear we are considering today lives mostly in Alaska, but there are also some in Canada and the northern United States. It is often mistaken for a grizzly, to which it is closely related, but the brown bear is larger and stronger. A big one may weigh nearly a ton and, standing on its hind feet, be about ten feet high. It can run 35 miles per hour. Its head is round with big upright ears, dark eyes and a short wide snout and just a stub of a tail.
This bear is often thought of as a flesh eater, but actually its favorite foods are grass, weeds, flowers, berries, acorns and other nuts and seeds. Honey is also a favorite food and a real treat. The bear’s heavy tan-brown coat of hair protects it from getting stung by bees.
There is an exception to its vegetarian diet when salmon are coming in from the ocean to spawn far upstream. At that time large numbers of these bears wade in the stream’s shallow parts, scooping out one fish after another onto the shore for a good meal. They never share these fish with one another, but sea gulls and other birds stand by for occasional scraps they can snatch.
It is most interesting to see a bear wade out in the strong-flowing river to the very edge of a waterfall. It waits there, head pointed downstream and getting soaking wet, until a salmon makes a giant leap from below and comes through the air in range to be grabbed in the bear’s jaws and taken to shore for an anticipated meal. Full-grown bears can handle the strong current, but smaller ones don’t venture out. They seem to sense that they could possibly get washed over the edge.
In winter these bears do not actually hibernate as most varieties do. They have prepared dens in advance, lined with soft grass and moss, where they remain sleeping much of the time. It is during this period that babies, about the size of a little kitten, are born. The mother nurses them until she takes them outdoors in early spring.
The Bible speaks in several places of bears. In one place David told King Saul how he had killed a bear with his bare hands (I Samuel 17:34). But that, of course, was not as big as these brown ones.
As part of God’s creation, these creatures are always under His watchful eye. The animals do not know this, but we who do know of His watchful care should thank Him often for the love that provides it. A Bible verse says: “Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving.... For the Lord is a great God.” Psalm 95:2,32Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. 3For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. (Psalm 95:2‑3).
ML-09/13/1992