Polar Bears, One of Winter’s Icons
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Perhaps one of the reasons that we see so many cuddly stuffed polar bear toys and Polar Bear Christmas Cards during the holiday season is that polar bears live in arctic regions and therefore must be near the North Pole where Santa lives. Correct.
These magnificent animals live around the Arctic Ocean. Their beautiful fur is translucent, absorbing ultraviolet light and making them almost invisible to infrared, in which only their breath and muzzles can be seen. The polar bears have a thick undercoat which includes long hollow guard hairs that keep the undercoat from matting when wet. They also shake like a dog or roll in the snow to rid their fur of moisture. There are stiff hairs that grow on the soles of their paws to help protect them from the cold and provide traction on the snow and ice. Polar bears are so well insulated that they become uncomfortably warm at temperatures higher than 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
Cuddly, they are not! Polar bears are powerfully aggressive hunters, feeding mainly on seals, walrus and whales. Since humans cannot outrun the polar bear, it is not a good idea give him a bear hug. But caribou and musk oxen can run easily outrun them, so Santa’s reindeer are safe.
Polar bears are truly one of winter’s icons. Even though they are enormous and dangerous animals, we still associate them with warmth and humor in the cold of winter. Their snowy white fur and round bodies are beautiful and sometimes even comical. Polar Bear Christmas Cards abound. CardsDirect has designed dozens of cards that feature these big, white, furry and funny animals. You can select from cute, funny or elegant. All are printed on heavy cardstock and you can choose from a large selection of verses or jump right in and write one of your own.
