The Black Bear With
a keen sense of smell and hearing, the black bear is at home in rugged
country with dense thickets, swamps, bays, or rock outcrops. Found in
the southern Appalachian Mountains and the coastal bays and swamps of
North Carolina, bears prefer room to travel widely with little to no
contact with human activity -- they will
often bed down in dense thickets in the daytime, and do much of their
moving at sunrise and sunset. Bears will occasionally cause damage to
livestock operations, apple orchards and cornfields. As an omnivorous
-- feeding on both plant and animals, their diet varies according to
seasonal activities and food availability. Breeding season in the American black bear is in late June to early July. Birth -- from 1-5 cubs --occurs in late January, with gestation being approximately 7 months. When the cubs are born, they weigh about nine ounces and are the size of a stick of butter! But from then on, they grow very quickly; by May they can be 12 to 20 pounds. An adult male can weigh as much as 650 pounds, but usually is about 450 to 500 pounds at full weight. The female will reach a maximum weight of almost 400 pounds. Bears seem to go through a 'puberty' stage, not reaching their full size, coat appearance or breeding age until they are about three years old. They can live to be about 25 years old. The black bear is a very proficient climber, and will often sleep in the crotch of branches. Coloring can range from pure black to cinnamon to blonde. Black bears in the East are nearly black, while those in the West are black to cinnamon with a white blaze on their chest. The black bears in Alaska can have a blue or white color phase to blend with their snowy surroundings. To learn more about the black bear, please visit Bear Country USA or Parks Canada. |