American Black Bears
...per hour for a short distance. The fur color of the black bear is often, in fact, black but color phases can also include light brown, dark brown, cinnamon, beige, and even a blue-white color. The lifespan of Black Bears in the wild can be twenty-five years or more. Black Bears eats anything edible, it has been determined that more than 75% of their diet consists of vegetable matter including, berries, flowers, grasses and sedges, herbs, tubers and roots, and nuts. For the remaining portion of their diet, animal matter such as decaying animal carcasses, fish, small marine animals, ants and other insects, honey, elk and moose calves and a variety of other small mammals are consumed. Black bears like to feed in the cool of the evening or in the early morning. During the heat of the day, they will often seek shade in the dense underbrush. In warmer climates, mating may take place as early as May or June. In northern part mating may be delayed until July or early August. Female black bears normally mature at 3 to 5 years of age. Females will normally mate with several males over the two to three weeks of the breeding season. Females will normally breed every other year. The number of cubs born ranges from one to a maximum of four with two cubs being average. As a rule, the number of cubs a female will have increases as she gets older. Again, climate and food supply are important determinants of the size of the litter. Around the end of January the cubs will be born while the mother is still in hibernation. At birth, the cubs are blind, hairless and very tiny. They weigh from 8 1/2 to 11 1/2 ounces. They are helpless and fragile. Her milk is calorically very rich containing over 20 percent fat. Within the next five weeks, the cubs will develop very rapidly on this rich diet and will be able to follow their mother when she leaves the den. During late summer and early fall, all bears hibernate, as a survival necessity. They need to gain as much weight as possible. Through the harvesting of locally available nut crops, berries and other edible food. By harvesting black bears normally make very large weight gain making such gains as much as 30 pounds per week. Most black bears will hibernate between four and seven months. Depending on the condition of the weather and the period without food available is short, black bears may not hibernate or they may simply nest in a underbrush or other sheltered area for brief periods of time. Hibe...