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969e6a3c-6f8f-4196-b7ea-0a79fbcec657 < Back Slide 56 of 83 < > Finally, is it important to keep white pines for wildlife? U.S. Forest Service studies showed that as scarce as white pines are, they still hold 80% of the eagle nests and 77% of the osprey nests in the Superior National Forest. These birds seek out white pines that strongly.

a73b8c14-1359-4366-bfaa-33c57b90be5c ASIATIC BLACK BEAR Back General Description: A "medium" sized bear, jet black fur with a thick mane-like ruff around their neck. In addition to the yellow moon on their chest, they have a brown or tan muzzle and a whitish chin. Distribution: The Asiatic black bear’s territory spreads widely across the southern part of Asia. Habitat: Heavily forested mountainous areas and moist tropical forests. Diet: Omnivorous, feeding on both vegetation and other animals. Population: 50,000 Length: 4.5 to 6 feet Height: 3 feet Weight: Males: 220 to 440 pounds, Females: 110 to 275 pounds Geographic Range

ec589e17-d5fb-4b47-b640-14d9407dbe92 < Back Slide 5 of 83 < > . . . pine martens, and dozens of colorful birds like pine grosbeaks and red crossbills.

580ca15e-e7df-4e25-8418-0b0a68ef83f4 < Back Slide 65 of 83 < > They left their cubs at the bases of them when they went off to forage because the cubs could safely climb to escape danger.

935ba479-1eae-42c2-b0a0-307196b28331 BLACK BEAR DIET Bluebead Lily Clintonia borealis Never Eaten A perennial member of the lily family whose fruit is never eaten by black bears. Blue-bead lily is common in the cool northern boreal forests, named for the porcelain blue berries produced in mid to late summer. Although they are not poisonous, they are quite foul tasting.

f20d7aee-42b8-4e9f-96ff-b85c8ad268b0 < Back Licking Just Before Birth A half an hour before birth she begins licking herself. Previous Next

cff36573-bae9-4ca9-9a26-ef3a52aa2abd < Back Slide 42 of 83 < > They also survive well in western and southern Minnesota where it's too warm and dry for blister rust to be a big problem.

69435b2f-cb22-4ce5-9988-2bcec5eb4fb4 < Back Slide 74 of 83 < > Even dead or dying white pines are important to wildlife. A healthy forest is a functioning ecosystem that includes dead and dying trees for wildlife homes and food.

RESEARCH PAPERS Comparison of behaviors of black bears with and without habituation to humans and supplemental research feeding by Roger A. Powell, Susan A. Mansfield and Lynn L Rogers October 5, 2022 Comparison of behaviors of black bears with and without habituation to humans and supplemental research feeding Effects of Food Supply and Kinship on Social Behavior, Movements, and Population Growth of Black Bears in Northeastern Minnesota by Lynn L. Rogers April 1987 Effects of Food Supply and Kinship on Social Behavior, Movements, and Population Growth of Black Bears in Northeastern Minnesota Do Bears That Lose Their Fear of People Become More Likely to Attack? Becklund, J.; DeBruyn, T.; Herrero, S., T. Smith, T. D. DeBruyn, K. Gunther, and C. A. Matt.; Rogers, L. L., and G. W. Wilker; Stringham, S. F; Tate, J. Do Bears That Lose Their Fear of People Become More Likely to Attack? To Feed or Not to Feed Wildlife Research Institute Lynn L. Rogers October 1, 2021 To Feed or Not to Feed Are Brown Bears Less Aggressive in Europe Than in North America? Stephen F. Stringham and Lynn L. Rogers Are Brown Bears Less Aggressive in Europe Than in North America? Behavior in Free-Living American Black Bear Dens: Parturition, Maternal Care, and Cub Behavior Lynn L. Rogers 1, Linda McColley 1, Janet Dalton 1, Jim Stroner 1, Douglas Hajicek 2, AdamPartin 3 and Gordon M.Burghardt 3,4,* Behavior in Free-Living American Black Bear Dens: Parturition, Maternal Care, and Cub Behavior Bed site selection by female North American black bears by Susan A. Mansfield, Lynn L Rogers, Sean Robison, and Roger A. Powell December 15, 2021 Bed site selection by female North American black bears Does diversionary feeding create nuisance bears and jeopardize public safety? Lynn L. Rogers Does diversionary feeding create nuisance bears and jeopardize public safety? Behavior of supplementally-fed black bears in Eagles Nest Township, Minnesota Lynn L. Rogers and Susan A. Mansfield Behavior of supplementally-fed black bears in Eagles Nest Township, Minnesota Status of Minnesota Black Bears 2021 Harvests, Complaints, Foods, and Population Trend Estimates December 30, 2021 Final Report to Bear Committee Andrew N. Tri Status of Minnesota Black Bears 2021 Harvests, Complaints, Foods, and Population Trend Estimates Status of Minnesota Black Bears 2022 Harvests, Complaints, Foods, and Population Trend Estimates February 9, 2023 Final Report to Bear Committee Andrew N. Tri Status of Minnesota Black Bears 2022 Harvests, Complaints, Foods, and Population Trend Estimates Status of Minnesota Black Bears 2023 Harvests, Complaints, Foods, and Population Trend Estimates February 8, 2024 Final Report to Bear Committee Andrew N. Tri Status of Minnesota Black Bears 2023 Harvests, Complaints, Foods, and Population Trend Estimates Status of Minnesota Black Bears 2024 Harvests, Complaints, Foods, and Population Trend Estimates February 25, 2025 Final Report to Bear Committee Andrew N. Tri Status of Minnesota Black Bears 2024 Harvests, Complaints, Foods, and Population Trend Estimates Reactions of Free-Ranging Black Bears to Capsaicin Spray Repellent Lynn L. Rogers Reactions of Free-Ranging Black Bears to Capsaicin Spray Repellent Effects of Mast and Berry Crop Failures on Survival, Growth, and Reproductive Success of Black Bears Lynn L. Rogers Effects of Mast and Berry Crop Failures on Survival, Growth, and Reproductive Success of Black Bears Have Black and Grizzly Bears Become More Dangerous? Insights From Human-Bear Fatality Trends Stephen F. Stringham, Lynn L. Rogers, and Ann Bryant (2019) Have Black and Grizzly Bears Become More Dangerous? Insights From Human-Bear Fatality Trends Fear of Humans by Bears and Other Animals (Anthropophobia): How Much is Natural? Stringham, Stephen F. and Lynn L. Rogers. (2017) Fear of Humans by Bears and Other Animals (Anthropophobia): How Much is Natural? Does diversionary feeding create nuisance bears and jeopardize public safety? Rogers, L. L. 2010 Does diversionary feeding create nuisance bears and jeopardize public safety? Black bears and the oak resource in northeastern Minnesota. Rogers, L. L., and E. L. Lindquist. 1991 Black bears and the oak resource in northeastern Minnesota. Grizzly bear and American black bear interactions with people in Yellowstone National Park Gunther, Kerry A., Atkins, Kelly M., Wyman, Travis C., and Reinertson, Eric G. Grizzly bear and American black bear interactions with people in Yellowstone National Park

August 24, 2022 Advantage goes to bears as season opens Sept. 1 Hunters’ baits less of a pull for bears luxuriating in a bonanza berry crop A mother bear and her cub rest in the morning sun. This year’s abundant berry crop should limit the take of female bears. M. HELMBERGER Posted Wednesday, August 24, 2022 8:00 pm Marshall Helmberger REGIONAL— What a difference a year makes. Last year in late August, area guides were eagerly awaiting the Sept. 1 start of the bear hunting season. With the region then in extreme drought, natural foods were in short supply and black bears were pounding the baits that guides and hunters use to pull the bruins in close to their stands. This year, after a wet summer and with the lingering effects of a bumper berry crop in much of the area, it’s looking like hunters will have to work harder this time. “It’s making it a lot harder,” said Jesse Brunner, a longtime Cook area bear guide. “The bears are coming in but they’re not hitting like they normally do.” Bear baiting got underway Aug. 15, as allowed by law in Minnesota. Brunner said an abundance of blueberries, raspberries and chokecherries are keeping the bears pretty content out in the woods right now. He noted that one of his baits is located on the edge of a big patch of plump, ripe blueberries. “A bear could just sit out in the middle there and eat all day,” he said. After three years of relatively high hunter harvests, DNR officials are predicting the bears might get a break this fall. “We’re expecting average to below average hunter success,” said Jessica Holmes, the Tower area DNR wildlife manager. The impact of a solid crop of wild foods has been obvious to DNR officials for some time. “My problem bear calls have certainly dropped off,” said Holmes. And if bears aren’t raiding bird feeders and garbage cans, it’s because they’ve got all the food they can handle out in the wild. That’s good news for bears, but Brunner said it’s going to make hunters have to work harder than in the past few years. “They’re just going to have to put the time in, and try a few different things,” he said. A lower harvest would help the DNR in its efforts to recover the bear population, which was cut in half in the 2000s by a series of aggressive harvests. The DNR dramatically dropped the number of bear permits it issues each year in the quota zone, from more than 20,000 in the early-to-mid-2000s to a low of 3,350 in 2017 and 2018. But back-to-back poor food years beginning in 2019 had pushed harvests up again in recent years, including the harvest of female bears, which provide the foundation for population recovery. Female bears are even less likely than males to approach hunters’ baits when wild foods are abundant, so this year’s berry crop could help keep sows out of the crosshairs. And if the sows go into their winter dens with a healthy fat reserve, as is typical in a good food year, they are likely to have a bigger litter come late winter, when the tiny young cubs are born in the den. While conditions in northern St. Louis County are likely to tilt in favor of the bears, that’s not true in every part of Minnesota. Brunner said guides he’s corresponded with in central Minnesota, where the summer was considerably drier, are seeing good activity at their baits. And Holmes said the strong berry crop is somewhat spotty even in the north, depending on where and when rains fell, and how much. For now, Brunner said he’s hoping for drier weather, which will ease access in some places and help to spread his bait scent. Once the season opens next Thursday, hunters will likely be looking for some cooler nights to help chill field dressed meat— assuming they’re successful. “Temperatures below 50 would be ideal,” said Holmes.

6d1cb814-1756-4134-8b8b-e322c5e259c5 BLACK BEAR DIET Large-leaved Aster Eurybia macrophylla May Spring Large-leaved aster is a common dense ground cover in Minnesota’s forests. The plant has large heart shaped leaves. The nutrients in large-leaved aster are only available to bears before they are unfurled as they emerge through the soil in the early spring. After they are fully emerged, the leaves mature and become more fibrous and less digestible to black bears as their nutrients become incorporated into cell walls as cellulose.

HOW BEARS LIVE Read More Find out more about the five stages of bear activity: Hibernation Walking Hibernation Normal Activity Hyperphasia Fall Transition Read More Read More From January through December, read about a bear's life month by month. Read More Read More Denning remains the least studied aspect of black bear life. Find out more about life for wild black bears in natural dens. (Spoiler Alert - There's a lot more happening than you might think!) Read More