How to identify Grizzly Bears, Denning Behaviors, & Seasonal Importance

In order to identify a Grizzly Bear, www.bearplanet.org states that the Grizzly bear is a subspecies of the brown bear, but the difference is the white tipped hairs, giving off the "grizzled" appearance .  These grizzly bears range from grey to yellow-brown to black in coloration. You can see the white tipped hairs on the image below. 

Grizzly Bear in the wild, note the white tips at the ends of his/her fur [17]

The Denning Behaviors of the Grizzly bear are different from that of other hibernation mammals.  They typically have a much higher body temperature during this process that most.  They stay around 88 degrees Fahrenheit during hibernation and have a normal body temperature of approximately 101 degrees Fahrenheit, whereas most mammals experience much larger decreases in body temperature.  Some other interesting facts about this process are Grizzly bears typically only breathe between 1 to 10 times a minute and have a heartbeat of approximately 8 to 19 beats per minute.  When the time comes to hibernate, they will dig up a spot on a mountain at a relatively steep slope several thousand feet up. [4]

In different seasons, there are different factors impacting the Grizzly Bears. In the spring, the Grizzly bears consume mostly meats of animals that had died during the winter and grasses, among other vegetation, such as whitebark pine nut stores of squirrels from the previous fall.  In the summer, they continue to consume grasses and other vegetation as well as ants and moths.  Later in the summer, they consume some young offspring of other animals that are easy to catch.  But the primary source of food during this time is the cutthroat trout. When Fall comes around, the primary source of food is the whitebark pine.  Other than this, a few minor items are included in their diet such as berries. [2]