12/24/2004: Happy polar bear Xmas
 

http://cellar.org/2004/polarbearxmastreat.jpg

Ah, more gingerbread.

Charly, a 1,150 pound polar bear at SeaWorld San Diego's Wild Arctic attraction, gives a few delicate licks to a gingerbread man before devouring the tasty treat Wednesday Dec. 15, 2004. Wild Arctic keepers often leave fruit, cream cheese and other treats for the polar bears. In keeping with the holiday season, the bears are enjoying a number of extravagances, including a live Christmas tree, snowman, gift boxes and stockings made of bread.

More bread art too. Nice. I bet the stockings are a lot cooler looking than the bed.

Cliff Clavin moment of the day: Polar bears do not have white fur--their hair is translucent.

When does the fight start with Sierra ???
"EWWWW!!!!!!!! Mom, Charly's licking MY ginger breadman !!!!!!"

I love how even those whose job it is to educate us about animals and their habits insist on anthropomorphizing them.

I don't know if I spelled that right, and I'm not even going to bother checking. :p

And their skin is black... so why does my eye see white?
..some kind of Jacko effect? :eyebrow:

Reflection of light off the hairs

What's the difference between white fur and translucent hair which reflects white light?

I think that's just splitting hairs.

(You're just jealous you didn't think of it first.)

White fur is just that--white. Translucent is clear (has no color).

It looks like Charly might have had to travel through some of Frank Zappa's yellow snow. :D

But isn't the definition of color light reflectance? And so if the bear looks white because its fur reflects white light, how is the fur not white?

Check this out:
http://www.polarbearsinternational.org/facts3.php

Scroll down to "Polar Bear Fur". ;)

Oboy... I think I started an avalanche about this poor bears color-physics.
Ok,ok.. I already knew how it work. Can we all start eat those gingerthings
now. :yum:

btw Merry Christmas :D

That's not a polar bear - it's a Cartesian bear after a coordinate transform :)