The week of November 4^th, I took a trip to Canada to see the Polar Bears in Churchill, Manitoba. During the course of the week I saw thirty seven bears and countless other animals such as seals, fox, and rabbits.

The trip was with a company called “Natural Habitat”. The company took our family out on “Arctic Rovers”, which are large busses with six wheels that stand nearly twenty feet tall, and we explored the tundra for four days.

The trip offered many close encounters with the bears and all the other animals. At one point, a polar bear was less than a foot away from me.

The reason that the bears congregate in Churchill is because of Hudson Bay. When the bay freezes over, the seals which populate the bay must make breathing holes. Because polar bears eat seals, this is the perfect time for the bears to make an attempt to prey on the animals.

Polar bears hibernate during the summer and during the cold months, July – February; they come out of hibernation to begin building their fat stores again. This process takes a long time, with bears often waiting three or four days between meals, so it is vital that they eat as much as possible, to tide them over.

Visiting Churchill was an amazing experience that I hope others will get.