SCIENCE AND TYPHOONS AND BEARS

What in the world is the link between typhoon frequency and bear attacks, you ask? A very good question indeed, and one that I just happened to be about to address in my next blog post, having just noticed the high bear claw marks and a strong musk odor on the old oak trees near the gazebo where I pause on my morning walks.

Following typhoon #21 last week, the windfall of large acorns had all been eaten by inoshishi (wild pigs), mice and insects, leaving none for the bears. And now with typhoon # 22 blowing over my shoulder as I write these thoughts down, Japan’s 15,000 or so hungry bears looking for acorns, persimmons, chestnuts, turnips, anything that might be left over after the ravaging of the natural landscape and its wild fruits by this year’s record number of typhoons-- not to mention the effects of logging in diminishing bear habitats-- the bears are starting to show up around human habitations; and when you get hungry (and dehabitated) you get irritable…

I notice that you too are hiking without a bear bell; perhaps we should hike back out of here together, loudly singing 99 bottles of beer…

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