Grizzly bear

A few years ago I was fortuitously stranded in Yellowstone with what has become my favorite North American omnivore. My nightmarish fear of grizzly bears was wondrously transformed into one of awe and respect after spending a few days with sanctuary biologists. I got to thinking about the Thanksgiving holiday and the smells of roasting turkey. Is there anything better than that aroma wafting through your home?

The biologist pointed to a distant hill and explained that a grizzly's olfactory (sense of smell) is so acute that from miles away, he not only smells you, he can actually tell what you had for breakfast. To put it into perspective, our paltry 40 million olfactory sensors bring us the delicious smells of our holiday feast, but for our dogs who possess up to 300 million of those sensors, it’s no wonder they whine at the table for a few scraps as their senses are so highly developed.

Grizzly Now, enter the grizzly. His sense of smell is 4 to 7 times more acute than the most decorated of canine trackers: the bloodhound. Any surprise that bear can smell you from 20 miles away?

A bit of advice during the holidays. After you stuff yourself with turkey and trimmings and home-made pie, you might want to rethink that hike in the woods. A six-hundred pound male grizzly clocks in at about 35 MPH – horses clock at 45 MPH so think about that for a minute. The average human? A non-athlete will be lucky to hit 10 MPH; stuffed with turkey and pie – I don’t need to tell you who will emerge the victor if the grizzly decides to chase you.

Happy Turkey Day everyone, and eat like a grizzly before hibernation!