Strange Nature | Is Lil Wayne a Polar Bear Expert?

Plug Tone Outdoors
Written By Emily Holland

On June 10th, 2008, I, along with Hip Hop fans the world over, eagerly pushed play on Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter III. We’d heard the singles, including Wayne’s biggest hit, Lollipop, and the track that reminded us of Weezy’s lyrical dexterity - A Milli. And we wanted more. 

On the track “Phone Home”, we hear Lil Wayne exploring his martian themes with clever - and sometimes not so clever - wordplay.

“I rap like I done died and gone to heaven I swear

And yeah I'mma bear, like black and white hair, so I'm polar”

Now, any other rapper and I’d have just turned it off. It’s PANDA Wayne. Panda. Panda’s are black and white. Polar Bears are all white. Everyone knows that. 

I mean, on the surface, it’s obvious he meant Panda’s right? And yeah I’m a bear like black and white hair so I’m polar. I suppose he could have meant that Polar Bears have black noses and white hair. Or maybe that black and white are polar opposites and the bear thing is incidental? Or maybe he knew something that most of us don’t. 

That if you happened to have a pet polar bear, which you never should, and you shaved it for the summer, which of course you would never do - but we’re speaking hypothetically here - then it wouldn’t be some strange giant naked mole rat looking thing. And that’s because Polar Bears have black skin. Yes, hidden under all of that fur is black skin. 

In fact, lots of bears have black skin - and sidebar: if you punch it into your googler, you’ll find a bunch of photos of freshly shorn bears - and unlike most shaven animals, who look absolutely ridiculous, hairless bears look even more fierce.

The stuff of nightmares.

However, when they are born, their skin is pink. They also weigh around 1 pound, can fit in the palm of your hand, and have pink tongues, noses and foot pads, which sounds like the cutest thing imaginable.

But at around 3 months old, when they emerge from the maternity den into the Arctic sun, all of that pink starts to darken and turn black. No albino polar bears have ever been recorded - so this transformation is likely a very important one to the species. 

Dr. Thea Benschoft, a scientist with Polar Bears International, writes, 

Our two best hypotheses as to why having black skin is essential to polar bears are both related to the sun: First, darker colors are better at absorbing heat from the sun, which is an advantage to a polar bear trying to stay warm in the Arctic. Second, the dark color likely protects the bear against harmful UV radiation from the sun. 

So maybe Wayne was right? Black and white hair so I’m polar. Black skin and white hair? 

Well, not so fast. There’s another issue with Wayne’s lyrics. 

Polar Bears, whose scientific name Ursus Maritimus means “sea bear”  don’t actually have white fur. 

Say what now? 

Truth is, Polar Bear fur is double layered - a shorter thick layer and a longer layer called guard fur. Both layers - they are clear. Sort of. They are actually colorless and translucent. And the longer guard fur is hollow. Little translucent tubes. They appear white because as light hits the fur, the light is scattered by the hollow tubes, and then all colors of the spectrum are reflected back - which appears white to our eyes. And those hollow hairs trap air inside, working much like the best insulation on the planet. 

On a cloudy day, they might look grey. But then, who doesn’t? Or at sunset, they appear pink or orange. I mean, the entire 10 foot tall 1500 lb bear will look pink, not just where the light is hitting it. It’s a quite spectacular thing to see a pink polar bear. Punch that in your googler as well, particularly if you’re still a little freaked out by the shaved bear images. 

Another sidebar: As climate change warms the planet and polar ice is quickly disappearing, Polar Bears are being driven further south. At the same time, grizzly habitat is expanding north. And there are now several documented cases of the two bears mating and having a baby that has DNA of both species. The Pizzly Bear. Or Grolar, if you like that better. I’m sticking with Pizzly. They’re cute as hell (unshaven of course) and scientists speculate that this new hybrid bear might have an edge in our warming climate. But that’s a whole different Lil Wayne track. 

Grolar or Pizzly, whichever you prefer.

So, sadly, it appears Weezy F. Baby isn’t a polar bear expert after all. 

And yeah I'mma bear, like black and white hair, so I'm polar

It’s Panda, Wayne. Panda. 

Live photo of a panda annoyed at Lil Wayne not knowing his bears.

Emily Holland https://emilyholland.co
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