T.R. Michels

I finally found an interesting piece of research, that may explain why hunters believe bears are nocturnal when it is hot, but our research here shows bears are active when it is hot.
This is from the Wisconsin bear research site.

"Bears were crepuscular (active at dawn and dusk) during the pre-breeding season, diurnal (active during the day) during breeding and foraging, and nocturnal (active at night) during fall denning period."
We are currently in the foraging season, so the bears should be active during the day. Hunters are observing bears during the denning period, when the bears should be active at night.
If this is true, our research will reflect it, and, as it gets closer to the denning season, we should see more nighttime activity - and less daytime activity - of the bears.

If the statement from Wisconsin is true there is still one more question that needs to be answered. (There is always the question of why.)
Why would bears be crepuscular durng the pre-breeding season phase, diurnal during the breeding season phase, and nocturnal during the fall dennning season period?
What do they gain by being that way at those times, and changing at other times? I can see why they would be crepuscular or nocturnal, during any phase (for security). But I can't figure out why they would want to be diurnal (unless the fact that they are the largest predator out there) during the breeding phase, allows them the luxury of being diurnal any time they want.
On August 25, 2009, between the hours of 3:30 AM and 8:30 AM, it was noted that higher numbers of deer were seen than normal, and that both bucks and does were more aggressive than normal, and the deer remained in open feeding areas much later than normal- and it occurred in two different locations. The fact taht it occurred not in one, but in two different locations, suggests that some type of environmental factor was the stimulus for this behavior.
The day when this occurred - was the first day of the week before the Apogee of the moon.
Correlations between peak monthly movement of deer and the Perigee of the moon have been noted by deer researchers in the past.
The Perigee/Apogee cycle of the moon is 27.5 days long, and it affects the electro-magnetics surrounding the sun, earth and the moon. Kepler's Law states that the moon is at its fastest acceleration during the week prior to the date of the Perigeee of the moon, which is when the moon is closest to earth, and farthest from the sun. Likewise the moon is at its slowest acceleration, around the earth during the week before the Apogee.
The combined effect of the grvitational pull of the sun and the earth, on the moon, causes the moon to speed up during the week before the Perigee, an slow down during the week before the Apogee. This chnge in speed results in a change in the electomagnetics surrounding the earth and the moon, which in turn affects biological organisms (which is referred to as biomagnetics).
In the case of mammals,these biomagnetics may affect seratonin levels. Seratonin is a mood regulator, and as such, it may cause animals to become more aggressive, have a stronger sex drive, or feel depressed. In other words, the affects of biomagnetics during the week before the Apogee of the moon, may have resulted in the abnormal behavior that was evident in the activites of the deer on August 26, 2009.
This - combined with the elevated testosterone levels of the bucks, evident by thefact that some of them had just begun to shed velvet from their antlers, may have resulted in the aggressive chasing, kicking and anterl thrusting behavior of the older bucks, which was directed toward the younger bucks. A change in serotonin levels may also have resulted in the aggressive behavior, and the willingness of the does to stay out in open areas later than normal.
This being said, there may yet be other explantions for the behavior of the deer on that date.

God bless
T.R.

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T.R. Michels
TRMichels@yahoo.com

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