Submitted via IRC for Bytram
The most common moth in the west is called the miller, and it is the adult of the army cutworm. Researchers are just now starting to understand the intricate relationship between this supposed-pest and bears, but that relationship is very important.
Each summer, moths of the army cutworm fly into tall mountain rocky slides, where they burrow away from the intense mountain sunlight into dark crevices. Hundreds of thousands of them. These moths come from farmland many miles away to these high, remote mountain slopes in Yellowstone.
At these places of slide rock and sunshine, both grizzly and black bears gather each year, climbing high above timberline to feed on the moths. The bears will dig through the slide rock and eat the moths that they uncover. It is estimated that some 40,000 moths per day can end up in the stomach of a hungry bear.
It's amazing how many calories you can get out of a single Mothra.
Source: https://www.yellowstonepark.com/things-to-do/bears-eat-moths-in-august
(Score: 2, Insightful) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Monday July 24 2017, @02:06AM (1 child)
Moths.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 24 2017, @03:32AM
... popcorn.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 24 2017, @02:52AM
I never liked bears, but with this news, i will plaster a sticker on the garbage buckets: "moth ----> that way"
(Score: 2) by driverless on Monday July 24 2017, @03:55AM (1 child)
Do they shit in the woods afterwards?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 24 2017, @04:06AM
No, they shit in the airport bathroom.
(Score: 3, Touché) by Corelli's A on Monday July 24 2017, @04:07PM
My name is Corelli's A. I'll be your Grammar Nazi for today.
Each Yellowstone Bear eats 40,000 Moths a Day in August
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 24 2017, @04:24PM (2 children)
The linked article sure enough says 40,000 moths per day. If the bear forages for 12 hours, that is 40000/12 = 3333.- per hour; /60 = 55.55 per minute or nearly one per second.
Somehow this seems unlikely. Anyone search for the field data?
(Score: 2) by linkdude64 on Monday July 24 2017, @06:58PM
"1 moth per second"
I cannot imagine the bears are eating the moths with chopsticks. Have you ever seen a bear's mouth? It could easily fit 30 moths inside of it. Two chomps a minute? A very reasonable figure for a bear chewing on food as delicate as moths.
(Score: 2) by t-3 on Tuesday July 25 2017, @03:27AM
It also says the moths gather in crevasses, so probably a colony or two can supply a bear with 10's of thousands.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday July 24 2017, @05:31PM
Great, so now we're gonna have 15 years of "bears with a flashlight on their headz!" jokes.