Category Archives: Black Bear

How Do Chipmunk and Black Bear Hibernation Differ?

Chipmunk hibernation  Black bear hibernation  Preparation Eastern chipmunks (Tamias striatus) store food in a burrow system. Preparation Black bears (Ursus americanus) store body fat. Den temperature Temperatures remain mostly above…

Will Snow Accumulate on a Black Bear’s Back?

Yes, snow accumulates on black bears at ambient temperatures below approximately 19 degrees Fahrenheit.  The photo shows a 3-year-old female black bear in an open den.  The temperature is 9…

Training Bears

Ruth LaBarge has owned and trained bears for the entertainment industry for over thirty years.  She has the largest selection of working Kodiak bears and black bears in North America. …

Whiteheart Den Cam

In fall 1999, Whiteheart gave researchers and the public the first views of how bears behave in the darkness of their dens when no one is around. Whiteheart denned 120…

The Cub Probe

The cub probe is an Aqua-Vu Infra-red Underwater Camera donated by Jeff Zernov of Nature Vision, Inc. (Baxter, MN) and adapted for den use by TV producer Doug Hajicek. It…

Folklore

Bears are part of human culture.  Perhaps no other group of animals has excited the human imagination in so many ways.  Although none of the popular images of bears reflect…

Researcher Discovers Clues to Bear Bone Strength

Science Daily, Dec. 29, 2003. From Journal of Experimental Biology, Vol 206. Inactivity is a prime cause of osteoporosis in most animals, including humans. A notable exception is the black…

Hibernating Bears Conserve Muscle Strength

Science Daily (Apr. 25, 2007) — A new study measured strength and endurance of hibernating black bears. T.D. Lohuis and his coauthors found that black bears in hibernation lose only…

Strong Arm Tactics

New Scientist News Service, February 21, 2001, Andy Coghlan Bears hardly lose any muscle when they hibernate, say zoologists at the University of Wyoming. Their findings could lead to new…

Bears’ Mysterious ‘Fecal Plug’

The fecal plug has long been one of the mysteries of bear hibernation. Early observers described it as a dense plug of unidentified material, fibrous plant material, and bear hair….

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