Polar Bear Mother Power

The force of her jaws and claws in motion would deter most predators from approaching her cubs of the year, even hungry male polar bears.  She often stands tall on her two hind legs to use her binocular vision to see oncoming danger from behind snow-covered willow bushes.  

In her standing position, she unleashes the full force of her body towards the direction of any predator like a high velocity train engine. The power of her wide paws can crush an opponent with one blow to the predator's core body.

Unpredictable Arctic Storms are a challenge for Polar Bear mothers in the open terrain and on the treacherous, unstable ice floes. 

Cubs can drown if they are not physically fit.  Sometimes, in a dry Canadian summer forest wildfires caused by lightning strikes can cause the arctic summertime tundra and forest areas to rapidly burn like a quick-moving brushfire which could overcome the polar bear mother and her cubs. Polar bear mothers are "Tundra Tough" when challenged with uncertain predatory and environmental situations.

In twelve months, the polar bear cub will have rapid growth and weight gain. They will follow their mother's every move in order to survive in the unpredictable weather conditions and rely on her powerful protection.The cub's mother's survival life lessons will be complete.  Cubs will leave their mother in about eighteen months to two years to find their own territories.  Their mother will mate again and have new cubs or one cub to raise for another two years. The circle of life continues.

POLAR BEAR MOTHER'S SHARPENED SENSES-

NOSE, EARS AND EYES

A polar bear mother's combined sense of sight, smell and hearing enhance her abilities to anticipate approaching predators that could 

harm her cub(s).  Her heightened physical senses give her the advantage to  overcome most stalking predators.  She is often ready to fight for her cub(s) at the moment of a potential predator's attack using her full arsenal of claws, jaws and the tremendous force of her body weight.

SENSE OF SMELL

She can see, hear and smell potential predators coming close to her

den sight.  Her den allows for air to flow through it with breathing holes/spaces for fresh air.  She can smell arctic and grey wolves,

cougars, wolverines, and even coyote packs approaching at a distance.  She also knows the scent of male polar bears looking for potential cubs 

to kill and eat to sustain their own lives until the sea ice freezes for seal hunting.

She can also smell her prey like ringed seals and walruses about twenty miles away.  The polar bear mother's nose is like a well-defined radar detector even on the sea ice and open ocean.  Her large brain-powered intelligence helps her remember these predator and prey scents so she knows how to approach what danger or opportunity is ahead. 

SENSE OF HEARING

The polar bear mother has hearing twice as good as humans and 

many other arctic wildlife.  They would be aware of another predator's presence before the predator knew where the polar bear mother and cubs were located.  She would have the element of surprise if she were to attack a predator.  More often, she would avoid conflict to protect her, especially young cubs.

When the polar bear dives in the Hudson Bay sea water, their small streamline and fur covered ears reduce water from entering and their ear canals close to prevent water from entering.  This physical adaptation prevents them from any disequilibrium imbalance from water entering the ear canal.

Polar bear mothers are adaptive swimmers as they can easily make  aquatic maneuvers to capture seals while in the water.  Her short tail also helps with swimming efficiently.  They swim about six miles an hour using their powerful front legs and the back legs somewhat float to rapidly guide its direction like a boat rudder.  

Lastly, the polar bear's fat layers of about four inches add to its buoyancy in the water and to stay warm in the frigid arctic waters.  

The Polar Bear mother and cubs must survive on the sea ice for four months.  All her inherited polar bear senses will give her and her cub(s) a unique advantage to stay alive for many years ahead.

SENSE OF SIGHT

A polar bear mother needs to feed so she can continue to strengthen herself to nurse her cub(s) with fat-rich milk even when out on the ice floes.  Her cubs will continue to grow about 20 pounds per month.  

Her exceptional night vision allows her to stalk prey(ringed seals 

and even caribou during the summer).  

She uses her night vision on land and while hunting on the sea ice during the arctic winter (November-March).  Her visual sensitivity contributes to her nonstop role as the cubs' guardian from predators around her den site, traveling to the shoreline and maneuvering on uneven sea ice.

Like many apex animals such as the tiger, cougar and even the arctic wolf, polar bears eyes also have a reflective layer known as tapetum lucidum, covering the back of the eyeball.  This layer reflects light back through the retina, allowing light to further stimulate light-sensitive cells in the retina, giving the polar bear enhanced night vision to see where the prey's vulnerable areas might be located for a successful hunt.

Since the Arctic winter is dark most of the day and night,  seeing in the dark gives it a strategic advantage.  The added rods in the polar bear's eyes also allows for them to quickly define their prey's silhouette so they know how to best capture this arctic prey.

Polar bears do see different shades of blue and green which use the cones inside the eye.  In contrast, humans have more cones (color receptive sensitive cells) than rods in their eyes.

Extreme sun could cause blindness from overexposure to the sun

making the polar bear unable to survive in the wild.  Like wearing a

pair of protective sunglasses, polar bears have a unique built-in UV lens 

within their eyes to manage the strong UV reflective light from the sun 

on the ice or at other locations.  They have three eyelids, one of which absorbs UV rays. Their cornea is also rich in Vitamin C which has healing elements to help their eyes recover from potential internal damage.

Polar bears developed this genetic adaptation from over 200,000 years 

of evolution in the arctic region.

POLAR BEAR NOSE-SENSE OF SMELL

A polar bear's sense of smell is seven times better than 

a bloodhound dog.  The average dog's sense of smell 

is one hundred times more than humans and 

the bloodhound's sense of smell is 300 times better 

than the average dog.  

Amazingly, the polar bear smells about 2,100

times better than humans.  In arctic tribal communities, 

the polar bear knows where they are before they can

even detect them.

As an interesting side note, elephants are considered 

to have the strongest sense of smell of all animals on earth.  

Their seven foot trunks have large amounts of olfactory receptors.

Gaining Traction on Rough Terrain & Ice Surfaces-

Large polar bear paw pads have a series of hard bumps (papillae) that serve to secure the polar bear's grip on land and ice.  It is like having a built-in bottom shoe grip covering to aid with wintertime traction.  This distinct physical advantage helps them rapidly move to capture prey like ringed seals while they are trying to slip away.

For a polar bear mother it also helps to have this kind of paw traction pad when carrying her cubs on her back.