Apparently Polar Bears Don't Mind Fire

The two on the left are very large cubs belonging
to the mother on the right

If this post goes up on Monday, it means that I've left Resolute and I don't have internet access in the lodge in Grise Fiord.  I scheduled this post to go up while I was still in the South Camp Inn in Resolute Bay, which, by the way, is a fantastic hotel.  Its definitely one of the nicest places that I've stayed in the North.  Last Sunday, the hotel manager, Cheyenne, gave me a ride to the airport to pick up a couple hundred pounds of rock and other materials that I shipped up as cargo ahead of the workshops.  On the way back into the hamlet we swung by the dump to check out the bears.  We saw five hanging around, although I'm sure there were more that we couldn't see in the dark.  It was 2:30 in the afternoon, so it was already quite dusky.  The thing that really amazed me was how calmly the bears were rooting through the burning garbage.  The flames didn't bother them at all.

One of the cubs actually grabs a burning ember and drags it closer to itself.  A coal lands on its paw and the cub doesn't flinch.  Just lets it burn out.

Photo Credits: Tim Rast