Can Black Bears climb
trees?
Scroll down for the answer.
What do you if
you find yourself this close to a bear? Do not show fear
(easier said than done!) and do not turn and
run.
Like their cousins the Grizzly, fur color is different
on some animals. There have been cinnamon brown colored bears
in the area of Maligne Lake (Banff Park), and some of the bears
are brown or even a dark honey color, but most of the black
bears in the Canadian Rockies are just that, black. Their coats
are long and shaggy and they have a short body. Paws are wide.
The head is large and has a straight profile. Tail is short
and males are generally a fifth larger than females.
Populations of Black bears are adequate but the
hunting and killing of the bears for their paws and gall bladders
is still a problem. These are illegally exported to Asia where
they are coveted for reputed medicinal purposes.
What is the only animal that black bears fear?
If you guessed Grizzlies you are right.
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Can Grizzly Bearss
climb trees?
Black Bear Cub. This is one thing you
do not want to see in the wild as a nervous, protective mother
will be close by.
Not quite as famous as the larger
Grizzly the Black Bear is still a tourist favorite to site.
A glimpse of the "Blacks" still quickens your pulse.
They are more shy of humans and bear versus human encounters
are less frequent. Watch for them in open meadows, along railway
tracks, roadsides, lakeshores, and forest trails. The best way
to spot a bear is to watch for a group of excited tourists standing
and staring at something in the distance!!
They are more likely to inhabit
forest areas but will go wherever the food is. You might see
one eating dandelions and most other food types as they are
very much omniverous. A large portion of their diet is roots,
berries and grasses. They love picking berries and can do so
with great dexterity as their lips are not attached to their
gums. They eat insects (including bees and honey), small animals
and rarely larger game (they will eat the kill of other animals
and have been known to dine on road-kill). Usually a black bear
will go after the young of big game rather than the elder animals.
They love fish.
During the winter a bear can lose 40 percent
of its body weight and will not urinate, eat or venture
out of its den for several months! For this reason a bear
needs to consume 20,000 calories of food per day in the
fall when it is packing on its fat for the winter. They
are considered "light" hibernators as they are
easily awakened and they enter hibernation slowly.
An early warm spring will bring the bears out of their
dens early.
With short, sharp, curved
claws black bears are adept at climbing trees. You can
watch in the wild for tell-tale claw marks on the bark
of trees (aspens).
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Best places to see a Black
Bear;
-Yellowhead Highway east or west of Jasper
-Maligne Lake road or shore
-Pyramid Lake Road
-Miette Hotsprings Road
-Bow Valley Expressway
-Icefields Parkway near Saskatchewan Crossing
-Red Rock Parkway near Waterton |
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