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BLACK BEAR SIGN Whether you want to track them or steer clear of them, you should be able to recognize signs that bears are in the area. Here are some tips on what to look for to track bears. Video and text provided by Sue Mansfield, MS and the Wildlife Research Institute Tracks and Trails Tracks and Trails Feeding Feeding Overturned Stones Overturned Stones Straddle Marking Straddle Marking Tree Bites and Scratches Tree Bites and Scratches Scat Scat Utility Pole Damage Utility Pole Damage Shredded Logs and Stumps Shredded Logs and Stumps Rubs Rubs Hornet Nest Remnants Hornet Nest Remnants Day Beds Day Beds Dens Dens

BLACK BEAR DIET Black bea rs are omnivores. Insects and animal matter are less than 10% of the annual black bear diet around Ely and across most of North America. Vegetation is the mainstay of a black bear’s diet. They follow different nutrient concentrations, eating different plants and plant parts in different seasons. For example, they eat Aspen Catkins in April and Aspen leaves in May. Almost all natural bear foods are sustained by moisture. Dry weather periods may cause a scarcity in natural food sources. Drought.gov provides data on current and forecast moisture conditions. Information provided by the Wildlife Research Institute and members of the BearTeam Select a season All seasons Spring, Summer American Vetch American Vetch Spring Animal Protein Animal Protein Late Spring to Late Summer Ant Pupae/Brood Ant Pupae/Brood Late Winter, Spring Aspen - Big-Tooth, Quaking or Trembling Aspen - Big-Tooth, Quaking or Trembling Never Eaten Baneberry - Red and White Baneberry - Red and White Late Winter Beaked Hazel, American Hazel - Flower Parts Beaked Hazel, American Hazel - Flower Parts Summer, Autumn Beaked Hazel, American Hazel - Nuts Beaked Hazel, American Hazel - Nuts Late Winter Black Ash Black Ash Never Eaten Bluebead Lily Bluebead Lily Summer Bunchberry Bunchberry Spring Canada Bluejoint Canada Bluejoint Spring, Summer Cattail Cattail Summer, Autumn Chokecherry Chokecherry Summer Common Dandelion, Red-seeded Dandelion Common Dandelion, Red-seeded Dandelion Occasionally Eaten Coralroot Orchid Coralroot Orchid Spring, Summer Creamy peavine, Veiny pea Creamy peavine, Veiny pea Summer Downy Arrowwood Downy Arrowwood Spring Interrupted Fern Interrupted Fern Summer Jewelweed Jewelweed Summer Juneberry Juneberry Load More

Item List WhitePine001 Minnesota's White Pines Read More WhitePine002 To most people who live among them, the white pine is their favorite tree. Read More WhitePine003 These giants live up to 634 years and were once so plentiful a person could travel from the Atlantic shore to Minnesota and seldom be out of sight of them. Read More WhitePine004 For thousands of years, Minnesota's white pine forest was home to caribou , . . . Read More WhitePine005 . . . pine martens, and dozens of colorful birds like pine grosbeaks and red crossbills. Read More WhitePine006 The forest seemed destined to last for centuries. When cutting began, white pines larger than any in Minnesota today were common -- white pines up to six feet in diameter and over 150 feet tall. Read More WhitePine007 The rule for good forestry is to cut trees no faster than the forest grows new ones. This is called sustainable forestry. It's the only way to produce wood and keep our forests and wildlife -- and jobs in the timber industry. Read More WhitePine008 In Minnesota, white pines have always been cut at unsustainable rates, and we've nearly lost our white pine forests and our white pine industry. Read More WhitePine009 The rush to cut white pines started on the Atlantic Coast. Read More WhitePine010 Loggers cut their way west through Michigan and Wisconsin, gradually expanding America's frontier to the vast white pine forests of Minnesota. Read More WhitePine011 The green and red squares together represent Minnesota's 27 million acres of forests of all types before cutting began in 1837. The red square represents the three and a half million acres dominated by old growth white pine forest and mixed white and red pine forest. Read More WhitePine012 People thought Minnesota's white pine forests were inexhaustible -- and the forests did support a booming industry for almost a hundred years -- but in 1932 the white pine industry collapsed. Read More

8c4ef6f1-24ec-4bc0-8da3-176b1ce40df3 Bears of the World (Worldlife Discovery Guides) Bears have inspired humans for thousands of years. We have celebrated their power and wildness from early cave paintings to the naming of constellations. This vividly illustrated portrait of bears describes the history, behavior, and habitats of all the world species: the grizzly, polar, American black, Asiatic black, sloth, and sun and spectacled bears, as well as the giant panda. It also takes a practical look at the complex issues of bear conservation, and highlights what individuals and organizations can do to help preserve a healthy future for these majestic creatures. Lance Craighead May 15, 2003 132 Pages:

DROUGHT AND BLACK BEARS How Drought May Be Affecting Black Bears There's actually a good explanation as to why we are much more likely to see black bears out and about in populated areas this summer. That's because the dry conditions we're currently experiencing is affecting the food that black bears usually eat, so they're going elsewhere for food. Select Year for Vegetation Maps January 2021 May 2021 September 2021 February 2021 June 2021 October 2021 March 2021 July 2021 November 2021 April 2021 August 2021 December 2021 View All Maps 2009-2021 Visit VegDRI Drought in Minnesota from 2000–Present The U.S. Drought Monitor started in 2000. Since 2000, the longest duration of drought (D1–D4) in Minnesota lasted 146 weeks beginning on August 30, 2011, and ending on June 10, 2014. The most intense period of drought occurred the week of August 17, 2021, where D4 affected 8.07% of Minnesota land. Visit Drought.gov

COVERLY THE BEAR When Dave Coverly at Speedbump.com gave us permission to display some of his cartoons on our website in the spring of 2022, we knew we needed to repay his generosity. In the summer of 2022, one of our favorite bears showed up with three cubs in tow: two males and one female. One of the male cubs had the most distinctive chest blaze we had ever seen. We named him Coverly. Coverly continues to visit from time to time so we know he is doing well. August 21, 2022 - Coverly on the left with his siblings Carex (male) and Calla (female) August 21, 2022 - Close up of Coverly’s distinctive chest blaze May 5, 2024 – Coverly with bare face due to winter mange. He is 2 years 4 months old. October 16, 2025 – Handsome young bear almost 4 years old

18ba92c0-a928-43f6-93bc-e71a47c1c465 < Back Slide 29 of 83 < > But no one had tried to grow white pines before, so there was no way the foresters could know that what they were doing to help was only making things worse.

2060f0bf-850e-4037-b22d-8dbfbf96e72d BLACK BEAR DIET Juneberry Amelanchier sp. Mid-June through July Summer Juneberries are a native and small deciduous shrub or tree in northern Minnesota that grows along the edge of a dry open forest and around rocky outcroppings. It is also known as serviceberries, saskatoons or shadbush. They are an early season fruit crop that produces delicious fruits that are similar to blueberries with the ripe fruit colors ranging from purplish red to deep purple to blackish. An important early fruit crop for black bears.

2560967e-f56d-4905-bfa4-a3574bb585b1 < Back Slide 18 of 83 < > What happened was in the 1800's, good, sincere people were supplying lumber to a growing America and clearing the land for agriculture. No one knew yet that most of the land they were clearing in Minnesota was not good for agriculture. They were working hard to earning livings for their families and build a better America, and it seemed more logical to cut every tree they could rather than leave seed trees for the future.

879cacf3-290b-4888-9879-58b2091c2b06 BLACK BEAR DIET Quaking Aspen Populus tremuloides April Late Winter Quaking Aspen is one of the first trees to leaf out in the spring.

WHITE PINES To black bears, not all trees are created equal. In the forests of northeastern Minnesota, bears definitely prefer to be near majestic white pines. Read Paper Are White Pines Too Valuable To Cut? To cut or not to cut? Here are some of the research findings foresters must weigh in managing Minnesota's old-growth white pines. Read Paper Supercanopy White Pine and Wildlife A survey of the literature showed that scattered supercanopy white pines perform a different wildlife function than do white pine communities. Read Paper Bark Probably the biggest reason black bears make their beds near big white pines is the white pine's bark. Old white pines have deeply-furrowed, strong bark that make them easier for cubs to climb for safe refuge. Cubs often fall from trees with flaky bark, like spruces, jack pines, and red pines, and the often fall from trees with smooth bark like birches and the upper branches of aspens. Shade White pines have another advantage for bears in spring before deciduous trees leaf out. White pines offer shade to escaping cubs that may spend hours in trees until danger passes. Bear fur can reach 185 degrees Fahrenheit in the sun. The need for shade becomes a matter of life and death when panting can no longer keep body temperature below 104 degrees. Strong Branches The long, strong branches of white pines provide greater safety to cubs than do other trees in northeastern Minnesota. Strong white pine branches can support entire bear families if necessary. Slideshow courtesy of White Pine Society Visit whitepines.org Watch Slideshow Tree Age Calculator Use this online tool to help you easily calculate the age of a tree using simple measurments Visit Site Tree Measuring Guide Friends of the White Pine Society, Robert Leverett and Will Blozan have shared with us a few diagrams from their book "Stalking The Forest Monarchs - A Guide to Measuring Champion Trees." Read Guide

September 14, 2022 Bear registrations drop sharply, as anticipated Bumper berry crop has made hunter baits less effective A young bear looks down from a high perch in an aspen tree. FILE PHOTO Posted Wednesday, September 14, 2022 6:31 pm Marshall Helmberger REGIONAL—Fewer bear hunters are reporting success this year as abundant wild food sources appear to have given the advantage to the bears. As of Sept. 13, hunter registrations statewide are down 34 percent over last year. Last year’s harvest, which fell just shy of 3,000 for the season, was boosted by drought conditions that dried up most berry crops that bears rely on as they seek to put on fat reserves for the winter. Hungry bears are more likely to respond to the baits that hunters put out near their stands, so poor conditions give hunters the advantage. This year, a bumper crop of wild fruits, mushrooms, acorns, and other wild foods have made baiting less effective. “Bear foods are definitely the driving factor here,” said Jessica Holmes, Tower area DNR wildlife manager. This year’s abundant wild foods are helping female bears most of all, and that’s likely to aid in the effort to rebuild the region’s bear population. DNR wildlife managers have been trying to rebuild the bear population in the region, which was cut in half a decade ago by several years of high hunting mortality. But the rebound has been slower than expected, as a series of poor food years have left females more vulnerable to hunters. Female bears are typically more cautious about approaching hunters’ baits, but they tend to overcome that reluctance when natural foods are short. Last year, hunters took an even number of males and females. This year, however, males are making up about 62 percent of the registered bears. “This is quite a contrast to last year,” said Holmes. As of Sept. 13, hunters had registered a total of 132 bears in permit area 25, which includes northern St. Louis and the eastern half of Koochiching counties. Of those, 82 were males, while 56 were female. Hunters had registered 157 bears in permit area 31, which runs from Tower and Ely down to the North Shore, including 107 males and 50 females. Given the pace of the hunt, Holmes said she expects the final harvest will come in right around 2,000 bears this season, If so, that would be the lowest harvest since 2018. The bear season runs through Sunday, Oct. 16, although most bears are taken in the first ten days of the season.