Happy International Polar Bear Day

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      today is International Polar Bear Day!  Hooray!  I love polar bears.  They are so huge and cuddly.  How can you not want to cuddle them!  At work when we answer the phone we have to say a very long greeting.  Its no fun to wait for your coworker to say the whole thing.  It started with my parents and two people that arent there anymore.  When we called in we would cut each other off and say "Polar Bear".  So instead of listening to "Thank you for calling Hotel Name Here, by Marriott.  This is Sarah, how can I help you?" you get "Thank you for calling..."  "Polar Bear!"  "Hi!"  Much easier!  We all now do it.  One of our sales manager has even mixed it up, when he calls he say "Orangutan!"  Makes life interesting.  So I think we all have a soft spot for polar bears now.  I was going to make "Polar Bear Day" cards for my friends, but forgot.  I am still going to do, cause it is a cute idea!  :)

Fun Facts

• Polar bear cubs learn to freeze and remain still while their mother hunts.  If they move, the mother disciples them, with a whack to the head.
• Female polar bears would rather build their dens in "old snow" from previous years rather than the freshly fallen snow.
• Some female polar bears deviate from the one room den.  They build dens with multiple rooms and even a ventilation system in the roof.
• Adult females often weigh between 500 and 600 pounds (227 and 272 kilograms).
• Female polar bears do not start having cubs until they are about 4 or 5 years old.
• Polar bear babies weigh a little more than a pound when they are born
• Paw pads with rough surfaces help prevent polar bears from slipping up on the ice.
• Only humans prey or hunt polar bears
• Polar bears swim using their large front paws to propel themselves through the water and their back legs to steer.
• A polar bear's fur is not white!!  It is hollow.  The fur reflects light.  The hollow fur also traps the suns heat to help keep the polar bear warm.  [I learned this one as a kid and it is one of my animal facts!]
• Polar bears fur is oily and water repellent.  Allowing them to shake dry after swimming.
• Polar bears mainly hunt seals.
• When curled up, a polar bear may cover its muzzle (nose) with a paw to help conserve heat.
• Polar bears tend to overheat more than to be cold.  [cute!!]
• Adult males can grow to be 10 feet tall and weigh over 1400 pounds.
• Humans are polar bears only predator.
• Man made pollution is a cause of death for polar bears.  
• A polar bear is so strong, that it can kill an animal with one blow from it's paw. [ouch]
• Many polar bears go into the town of Churchhill, Manitoba, Canada.  [if I ever move to Canada!]
• Polar bears mate March through July, however the fertilized egg is not start to develop until September.
• Polar Bears do not hibernate.  Female polar bears will den with their young.  All polar bears may den for a short time to avoid bad weather.
• Polar bears can swim an average of 6 miles per hour.
• Polar bears can swim up to 100 miles (161 kilometers at a time).
• They will slide down slopes or crawl on their stomachs if the ice is thin and at a risk of breaking. 
• They have been known to have tantrums. Experts have observed frustrated polar bears throwing chunks of ice, kicking piles of snow or growling in disappointment after losing prey they’ve been trying to catch.  [look out]
• In 2008, scientists estimated that there might be 20,000 to 25,000 of them.  [ :( ]
• the polar bear's scientific classification and name is; Kingdom: Animalia, Phylum: Chordata, Class: Mammalia, Order: Carnivora, Family: Ursidae, Genus: Ursus, Species: Ursus maritimus (sea bear)
• A polar bear’s closest relative is the brown bear, Ursus arctos.
• Polar bears live an average 15 to 18 years, although biologists have tagged a few bears in their early 30s. In captivity, they may live until their mid- to late 30s. Debby, a zoo bear in Canada, lived to be 42.

sources:  endangeredpolarbear.com, polarbearsinternational.org, www.tundrabuggy.com

Want to adopted a polar bear? Free ideas on how to help by living greener.

Friends visited:  3.  One lunch date, 2 I saw at there places of work.  One I hung around for an hour doing a puzzle!

Went to the gym?  Nope!  Slept in and it was great!

Number of smoothies?  None and I am totally in withdrawal!!!

Create:  WORST Coconut Milk Soup ever!  The broth was bad...  I kept the veg and I am going to try to fix it tomorrow...  It looks pretty!

What animals do you love?