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Mammals Black Bear 
In Vermont, black bears live in large, undisturbed forested areas with wetlands and streams that provide food sources in Spring, Summer and Fall. They are most numerous on either side of the spine of the Green Mountains where oak forests occur (southern Vermont) and mixed deciduous/coniferous forests with American beech (central to northern Vermont). They also occur in good numbers in the Northeast Kingdom. Black bears are solitary animals and only approach human habitations when wild food sources are scarce and may be tempted to raid bird feeders, garbage cans and barbecue grills.
Size/Features A male black bear may reach 300 – 400 pounds and can run at speeds up to 40 mph. A female weighs on average 120 - 180 pounds. Black bears reach breeding age at 3 ˝ years and adult females have cubs every other year. They have long thick black fur with bronzy muzzles, black eyes, rounded ears and very long claws for ripping open food sources. Bears have excellent senses of hearing and smell; their vision is less well-developed. Population/History During early settlement times, when Vermonters cleared much of the low and mid-elevations for agriculture and hunted black bear for food and clothing the animal’s numbers plummeted. Bears persisted only in remote areas where people didn’t settle, such as the far Northeast Kingdom and rough mountainous areas. As land use has changed in the last 150 years, many former agricultural lands have reverted back to a forested landscape. Consequently, black bear habitat and black bear numbers have rebounded. The present black bear population is estimated to have increased from 1000 animals ten years ago to a present population of 3000 – 3500 individuals. In 1941, the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department and the Vermont Legislature elevated black bears to the status of a big game animal with protection. In 1967, trapping black bears was banned. In subsequent years, controls were placed on the use of hunting dogs. In 1972, shooting bears at trash dumps was prohibited. Spring and Summer Black bears forage each season where food sources are most abundant. In early Spring (April), when adult bears awaken from Winter sleep (See Black Bear – Fall and Winter), the fat reserves that supported them through Winter are all but used up. As soon as wetlands start to green up, black bears feed on grasses and green, leafy plants. Evidence of their presence in a wetland is confirmed by observing dark black soft voluminous mounds of scat. The grassy diet is of low nutritional value compared to other seasons and in April, May and June, bears forage all day. Black bears only resume an adequate level of nutrition in early to mid Summer as roots, fruits and honey from bee hives provide much needed protein and sugar from which they can start to gain weight. Black bears belong to the Order Carnivora, but their diet may be more accurately described as that of an omnivore. They are opportunist feeders and have been known to take a young fawn if a bear chances upon one. Reproduction Female black bears maintain large foraging territories. Males travel great distances feeding and looking for a mate. The time that male and female adult bears spend together is during the brief breeding season in June and July. The fertilized eggs (typically one or two) remain in a state of delayed implantation in the uterus. The eggs will only implant in the female’s body in the Fall and only if she has found enough food to attain a weight of at least 150 pounds. That ensures that only well-fed bears will give birth and that cubs born in January will survive. In late Summer, black bears immerse themselves in a rich array of food: apples, cherries, succulent plants, beechnuts and acorns. At this time of the year, bear scat looks very different from the time in Spring and displays the greater nutritional value of these foods. The scat is more compact and often is packed with seeds and apple skins. Cubs are growing rapidly and will remain with the mother bear until they are 16 months old. Fall and Winter Black bears continue to feed through Fall as long as food is available. Food sources in northern Vermont include beechnuts, cherries, apples and mountain ash fruits. Bears will eat up to 24 hours per day and consume up to 5 times their normal daily intake. Bears may feed through November and into December in good years; however, if food is scarce due to cycles in seed and fruit production, disease or insect damage, most bears in Vermont will enter their dens by mid-November. Hibernation Black bears will den in a variety of places: a pocket or cave in a rocky ledge, a hollow in a large tree or a downed log, a sheltered depression dug out at the base of a tree or log or upturned root, or a brush pile. Some will simply lie on the ground and await the certain snow cover. Female bears that are pregnant will choose den sites that are in more protected locations and will line the den with stripped bark, leaves, grasses, ferns and mosses. A bear will den up when it has fed enough to add a 5” layer of fat that is essential to its survival during the upcoming winter season. A substance called leptin is the metabolic hormone that is produced by fat cells in the blood and induces a feeling of satiety. The bears are no longer hungry and den up often just before or during an early winter snowstorm. The ability that bears have to endure up to five months of inactivity is a marvel of nature that is controlled by several physiological processes. They can go without eating food, drinking water, or eliminating waste and do not suffer from muscle or bone mass loss. Bears only lower their body temperature by 2 – 3 degrees Celsius (which is why they easily awaken when biologists take blood samples to monitor health). Because of the reliance on fat metabolism during winter, levels of urea (a byproduct of digesting protein) in the blood do not reach toxic levels. What urea that does form is metabolized into creatine which is transformed to protein and returned to muscle tissue. Fat metabolism also holds the secret of why bears do not lose bone mass after such prolonged inactivity, a phenomenon that has been observed but not fully understood. Birth of Cubs After two to three months of hibernation, female black bears give birth to one or two cubs in late January or early February. Each cub weighs 8 – 10 ounces at birth and must instinctively locate a nipple from which to feed and grow while the mother continues her deep sleep. The new subnivean family waits patiently until the cycle of the seasons removes their thick blanket of insulating snow. Then, they may awake and enter the world of sunshine and rains where the mother can teach her young everything she knows about survival. - Deborah Benjamin  HabitatLarge, undisturbed forests of either mixed coniferous/deciduous trees (with American beech) in northern New England; or of oak/hickory trees in areas of southern Vermont, New Hampshire and southwards to the Southern Appalachians. Bears need wetlands and streams in proximity to food sources.  Wildlife Observation Tips
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This page was last updated on January 1, 2009 |
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