The Bear Facts

When you think about a bear den, what comes to mind? A hollow tree? A cozy cave? How about a pile of abandoned tires? Or under your porch? Bears can den up in all those places and many more. [...]

October at a Glance: Hyperphagia is in full-swing. Bears may be awake and searching for food up to 20 hours a day. Many bears also look for den sites. Some pregnant females may den up by the end [...]

September at a Glance: Bears enter hyperphagia in September and may look for food up to 20 hours a day. Berries, nuts and acorns are important fall bear foods. Bears can gain two to three pounds [...]

August at a Glance: Bears have many ways to stay cool during hot summer days. By August, most cubs are weaned. Cubs can often survive on their own if they have to. Bears feast on ripening berries [...]

July at a Glance: By July, cubs born this year have grown to the size of a raccoon or a small dog with big ears. Yearling bears now on their own can be the size of medium dogs. Bears of both [...]

June at a Glance: Yearlings leave mom and search for food, shelter and a place of their own. Adult males travel far and wide looking for mates. Nursing moms venture farther from home base [...]

May at a Glance: All bears visit all the places where they reliably found food last year. Cubs learn how to climb up (and down) trees, and learn to “talk.” Cubs are still nursing, but start [...]

April at a Glance: Most bears leave their dens for good. Cubs get their first look at their new world. Mother bears continue to nurse and keep their den and cubs clean. Bears that found [...]

March at a Glance: Some black bears leave their dens to walk around, stretch their legs and then go back to sleep. Other bears leave dens for good. Bears emerge skinny, groggy and thirsty and [...]

The fact that bears mate in summer and give birth seven or eight months later might make you think that bear pregnancies aren’t all that different from human ones. But even though bears mate in [...]