Post by grrraaahhh on May 24, 2011 10:21:58 GMT -9
The following interesting extract account I found awhile ago but I have not been able to find out anything more about the original source information. Maybe someone in the visiting audience is familiar with the following material:
The claim that an adult grizzly bear can decapitate a moose with one swipe of its paw is an established fact. The first reported event took place in Alaska in 1895 by a Russian miner who was hiking through the wilderness. According to his account, he witnessed a moose drinking from a stream when a Grizzly bear approached from the other side. Mooses are very territorial, and they are especially known to attack anything they perceive to be a threat to their water source. The moose charged full speed across the stream, and just as it neared the bear, the bear stood up and with a quick motion swiped the moose in the side of the face. The mooses head became decapitated and flew a distance of fifteen to twenty feet.
...and quick as a spark on a fire the grizzly bear stood up and swatted the moose in the face. Why it was if you or I would swat a fly, but the impact seemed to me as loud as a gunshot. And then I was absolutely flabbergasted and discombobulated to see, a great upsplash of blood, and the mooses head detatched from the body and landed not three feet from where I was hidden, its eyes staring right at me. The bear sat down immediately and began drinking from the stream as if nothing had happened, as if it were a regular occurance to go decapitating the head of a moose. Never in my life will I forget the power of the grizzly bear...
The report was met by skepticism until noted American biologist Dr. Jacob MacDonaldson observed a similar event in the spring of 1954. MacDonaldson was observing the movements of a Grizzly bear when a moose walked into the same space. The grizzly bear perceived the moose to be a threat to the cubs, and roared to scare it off. But the moose began to graze. The bear then charged the moose, but again the moose did not move. The bear then lumbered over to the moose, and with a powerful swipe of its paw, decapitated the moose. Dr. MacDonaldson later retreived the moose head an autopsy found damage consistent with that of decapitation by impact.
Later studies contribute the phenomenon to both the relative weakness of a mooses upper neck and the power of a grizzly bears arm. Although a grizzly bear is very powerful, it does not have the strength to decapitate most creatures larger than a man. A moose however is peculiar in the structure of its upperneck, which is weak, and any force that puts a significant and sudden pressure on the weakest point of the neck will inevitably cause decapitation.
Since 1895, there have been 15 reported cases of Moose decapitation by Grizzly, and most scientists theorize it is a natural, albeit somewhat rare, event.
P.S. May the Force Be With You.
The claim that an adult grizzly bear can decapitate a moose with one swipe of its paw is an established fact. The first reported event took place in Alaska in 1895 by a Russian miner who was hiking through the wilderness. According to his account, he witnessed a moose drinking from a stream when a Grizzly bear approached from the other side. Mooses are very territorial, and they are especially known to attack anything they perceive to be a threat to their water source. The moose charged full speed across the stream, and just as it neared the bear, the bear stood up and with a quick motion swiped the moose in the side of the face. The mooses head became decapitated and flew a distance of fifteen to twenty feet.
...and quick as a spark on a fire the grizzly bear stood up and swatted the moose in the face. Why it was if you or I would swat a fly, but the impact seemed to me as loud as a gunshot. And then I was absolutely flabbergasted and discombobulated to see, a great upsplash of blood, and the mooses head detatched from the body and landed not three feet from where I was hidden, its eyes staring right at me. The bear sat down immediately and began drinking from the stream as if nothing had happened, as if it were a regular occurance to go decapitating the head of a moose. Never in my life will I forget the power of the grizzly bear...
The report was met by skepticism until noted American biologist Dr. Jacob MacDonaldson observed a similar event in the spring of 1954. MacDonaldson was observing the movements of a Grizzly bear when a moose walked into the same space. The grizzly bear perceived the moose to be a threat to the cubs, and roared to scare it off. But the moose began to graze. The bear then charged the moose, but again the moose did not move. The bear then lumbered over to the moose, and with a powerful swipe of its paw, decapitated the moose. Dr. MacDonaldson later retreived the moose head an autopsy found damage consistent with that of decapitation by impact.
Later studies contribute the phenomenon to both the relative weakness of a mooses upper neck and the power of a grizzly bears arm. Although a grizzly bear is very powerful, it does not have the strength to decapitate most creatures larger than a man. A moose however is peculiar in the structure of its upperneck, which is weak, and any force that puts a significant and sudden pressure on the weakest point of the neck will inevitably cause decapitation.
Since 1895, there have been 15 reported cases of Moose decapitation by Grizzly, and most scientists theorize it is a natural, albeit somewhat rare, event.
P.S. May the Force Be With You.