Bear

Bears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern Hemisphere and partially in the Southern Hemisphere. Bears are found on the continents of North America, South America, Europe, and Asia.

Common characteristics of modern bears include large bodies with stocky legs, long snouts, shaggy hair, plantigrade paws with five nonretractile claws, and short tails. While the polar bear is mostly carnivorous, and the giant panda feeds almost entirely on bamboo, the remaining six species are omnivorous with varied diets.

With the exception of courting individuals and mothers with their young, bears are typically solitary animals. They are generally diurnal, but may be active during the night (nocturnal) or twilight (crepuscular), particularly around humans. Bears possess an excellent sense of smell and, despite their heavy build and awkward gait, are adept runners, climbers, and swimmers. In autumn, some bear species forage large amounts of fermented fruits, which affects their behaviour. Bears use shelters, such as caves and burrows, as their dens; most species occupy their dens during the winter for a long period (up to 100 days) of sleep similar to hibernation.

Bear (2010 film)

Bear is a natural horror Z movie directed by John Rebel and stars Patrick Scott Lewis and Katie Lowes. The film was released on June 4, 2010 in the United Kingdom.

Plot

Businessman Sam, his wife Liz and his musician brother Nick with his girlfriend Christine are driving through a remote countryside to their father's birthday dinner. Several miles into a back road shortcut, they get a flat tire and are unable to get a cell phone signal to call for help. While repairing the tire, Sam berates Nick for wasting his life being a musician, his latest fling with Christine being another mistake on his judgement list. As they are arguing, they are approached by a grizzly bear. Despite Nick's efforts to convince the group to calmly leave, Sam takes matters into his own hands and shoots the bear down with a handgun. After the bear dies, they are approached by a larger male bear who charges them in revenge, causing them to retreat into their minivan. In his rage, the bear overturns the minivan, trapping the humans inside. After striding around for several minutes, the bear leaves, allowing the crew to turn the minivan over. But as they start driving, the axles break under both sets of tires, stranding them again. The group tries to leave on foot, but they are ambushed by the bear who chases them to an out-of-ground pipe. He tricks them into leaving for the minivan and attacks again; this time he is able to catch Christine who is killed while the others watch.

Bear (surname)

Bear is a surname which may refer to:

See also

Bear (disambiguation)

A bear is a type of mammal. It can also be a verb meaning to hold up, carry, or support; further, it can mean to give birth to, but in this sense occurs almost always in the passive form to be born.

Bear or Bears may also refer to:

Geography

Radio stations

Bear Magazine

BEAR Magazine is a periodical specifically geared toward gay and bisexual men who are — or who admire — "bears", i.e., men with facial and/or body hair. It was initially published in San Francisco, California in 1987 by Richard Bulger and his partner Chris Nelson and marketed to the bear community within the larger LGBT community.

History

Beginnings

In San Francisco, in 1987, Richard Bulger began a self-xeroxed magazine called BEAR, dedicated to the appreciation of hairy, bearded, masculine gay men--something completely unrepresented at the time. Bulger had been running a modeling agency called Creative Options Agents (COA) with his photographer partner Chris Nelson. He saw a need for broader markets--and broader models. Thus, with his connection to gritty, edgy gay biker culture and proximity to the Lone Star Saloon; with the growing success of "'zine" desktop underground publication taking hold in San Francisco, Richard saw a unique opportunity. Common lore is that BEAR Magaine was begun by a man named Bart Thomas, who died of AIDS before the magazine was first published. In fact "Bart Thomas" was a pseudonym Richard Bulger chose for himself ("bart" being the German word for "beard") in the earliest days of the project. A good friend of Richard Bulger named David Grant was reported to have suggested the name "Daddy Bear" for this new magazine just before his death from complications from AIDS.

USS Bear (1874)

The SS Bear was a dual steam-powered and sailing ship built with six inch (15.2 cm) thick sides which had a long life in various cold-water and ice-filled environs. She was a forerunner of modern icebreakers and had an exceptionally diverse service life. According to the United States Coast Guard official website, Bear is described as "probably the most famous ship in the history of the Coast Guard."

Built in Scotland in 1874 as a steamer for sealing, she was owned and operated out of Newfoundland for ten years. In the mid-1880s, she took part in the search for the Greely Expedition. Captained by Michael Healy of the United States Revenue Cutter Service (later part of the U.S. Coast Guard), she worked the 20,000 mile coastline of Alaska. She later assisted with relief efforts after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

Her services also included the second expedition of Admiral Richard E. Byrd to Antarctica, and again to the southernmost continent in 1941 to evacuate Americans at the beginning of World War II. She later served in patrol duty off the coast of Greenland for the United States Navy. Between some of these missions, she was a museum ship in Oakland, California and starred in the 1930 film version of Jack London's The Sea-Wolf.