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588061f5-a116-4790-948d-a2a1f7819be7 < Back Slide 57 of 83 < > Why do these birds prefer the white pine on the right here over the red pine on the left? Probably because white pines grow taller, have sturdier branches for heavy nests, and have bigger gaps between branches for birds with 6-foot wingspans.

eb0c3a27-5401-4012-863c-c386ad2009b5 < Back Yearlings Suckling Yearlings suckled in the den every day, making this pulsing hum—even though they got little or no milk. In spring after emergence, some well-fed mothers resumed lactation and nursed their yearlings right up to the day of family breakup in May or June. Previous Next

56c4bcbd-f906-4114-83f1-5dd7666af935 < Back Slide 38 of 83 < > This let litter and underbrush become so dense on the forest floor that it became hard for white pine seedlings to find soil and light.

BOOKS TO BORROW Alaska Magnum Bear Safety Manual Button Bear Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance, 3rd Edition Button Bear Encounters: True Stories to Entertain and Educate Button Bear Viewing in Alaska: Expert Techniques for a Great Adventure Button Bearman: Exploring the World of Black Bears Button Bears for Kids Button Bears of the World (Worldlife Discovery Guides) Button Bears: Behavior, Ecology, Conservation Button Bears: Majestic Creatures of the Wild Button Bears: Monarchs of the Northern Wilderness Button Bears: Wild Guide Button Beauty Within the Beast: Raising Orphaned Bear Cubs in the Alaskan Wilderness Button Black Bear: North America's Bear (Kids Book) Button Bärle's Story: One Polar Bear's Amazing Recovery from Life as a Circus Act Button Discovering Black Bears, Mom's Choice Awards Recipient Button Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law Button Grizzly Heart Button Grizzly Seasons: Life with the Brown Bears of Kamchatka Button In Wild Trust, Larry Aumiller’s 30 Years Among the McNeil River Brown Bears Button Joy of Bears Button Living With Bears: A Practical Guide to Bear Country Button One of Us, A Biologist’s Walk Among Bears Button Polar Bears - A Natural History of a Threatened Species Button Polar Bears: Living with the White Bear Button Smiling Bears, A Zookeeper Explores the Behavior and Emotional Life of Bears Button Sociobiology, the Abridged Edition Button Spirit Bear: Encounters With the White Bear of the Western Rainfores Button Summers with the Bears: Six Seasons in the North Woods Button Talking with Bears: Conversations with Charlie Russell Button The BearDude Story, Data vs Dogma Button The Bears of Brooks Falls: Wildlife and Survival on Alaska's Brooks River Button The Great American Bear Button The Great Bear Almanac Button The Mammals of Minnesota Button The Phantom Grizzly Button The Wishing Bear (Kids Book) Button Walking with Bears: One Man's Relationship with Three Generations of Wild Bears Button When Bears Whisper, Do You Listen? Button Where the Bear Walks: From Fear to Understanding Button Load More

dc83779d-ec6c-4664-aab5-a964a8885473 < Back Slide 53 of 83 < > And wouldn't Minnesota's tourism industry benefit more from these tall pine forests than from the small common trees that usually replace white pines after cutting?

9b4b2041-8f88-4557-af3f-ad1ce1c33675 BLACK BEAR DIET Raspberry Rubus sp. July, August Summer Raspberries thrive in areas with full to partial sun, including open woodlands, forest edges and roadsides and they appear a year or two after a clearcut or a fire and they grow in a variety of soils. Fruit ripens mid to late summer and is eaten by black bears.

f0aa5575-c152-4a54-9d5e-3b7b0fe79a9f BLACK BEAR DIET Baneberry - Red and White Actaea rubra, Actaea pachypoda Never Eaten These attractive native bushes are in the buttercup family. They produce red or white berries and the entire plant is toxic, but the roots and berries are the most poisonous. Black bears do not eat the berries or the plant.

41416572-88b9-4df8-985b-dbb04dc724dc BLACK BEAR DIET Wild Lettuce Lactuca canadensis May, June, July, August Spring, Summer Wild lettuce is another important summer food for black bears but less preferred than berries and hazelnuts. Wild lettuce can sustain bears in years when berries and hazelnuts are scarce. It is biennial and can grow up to 8 feet tall. Wild lettuce can be found in a variety of conditions, from shady, moist woods to dry, gravelly roadsides.

1f2a05ef-3799-4378-9c56-fb6bd35093b9 Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law Join "America’s funniest science writer" (Peter Carlson, Washington Post), Mary Roach, on an irresistible investigation into the unpredictable world where wildlife and humans meet. What’s to be done about a jaywalking moose? A bear caught breaking and entering? A murderous tree? Three hundred years ago, animals that broke the law would be assigned legal representation and put on trial. These days, as New York Times best-selling author Mary Roach discovers, the answers are best found not in jurisprudence but in science: the curious science of human-wildlife conflict, a discipline at the crossroads of human behavior and wildlife biology. Roach tags along with animal-attack forensics investigators, human-elephant conflict specialists, bear managers, and "danger tree" faller blasters. Intrepid as ever, she travels from leopard-terrorized hamlets in the Indian Himalaya to St. Peter’s Square in the early hours before the pope arrives for Easter Mass, when vandal gulls swoop in to destroy the elaborate floral display. She taste-tests rat bait, learns how to install a vulture effigy, and gets mugged by a macaque. Combining little-known forensic science and conservation genetics with a motley cast of laser scarecrows, langur impersonators, and trespassing squirrels, Roach reveals as much about humanity as about nature’s lawbreakers. When it comes to "problem" wildlife, she finds, humans are more often the problem―and the solution. Fascinating, witty, and humane, Fuzz offers hope for compassionate coexistence in our ever-expanding human habitat. Mary Roach September 14, 2021 320 Pages:

b9c4b86e-ab5a-436f-8c94-3788c51c8cf3 < Back Slide 69 of 83 < > The mother tried to stop them, and here is trying to pull one down. The cubs were okay though, and the mother led them to the nearest old white pine.

898da006-9438-4449-8334-2dea32b87ac8 SUN BEAR Back General Description: Sun bears are the smallest of the bear species with a characteristic orange to cream colored chest patch. Distribution: Southeast Asia Habitat: Sun bears inhabit dense lowland forests. Diet: Sun bears feed on ants, bees, beetles, honey, termites and plant material such as seeds and several kinds of fruits. Population: Unknown, possibly less than 1000 Length: 4 to 5 feet Height: 2 feet Weight: Males: 60 to 145 pounds, Females: 50 to 130 pounds Geographic Range

BASIC BEAR FACTS For more information see www.bear.org What is the general description of a black bear? Black bears are 4 to 7 feet from nose to tail, 2 to 3 feet high at the shoulders, and have small eyes, rounded ears, a long snout, a short tail, and light gray skin. Their fur is shaggy or sleek, depending upon the season. How do black bears physically compare to grizzly bears? Black bears average smaller than grizzly bears, have a smaller shoulder hump, and a less concave facial profile. Their claws are smaller and more tightly curved for climbing trees. Their fur is less shaggy. Their ears are longer, smoother, and more tapered. They have a furred rear instep, unlike the grizzly. Do black bears have a variety of fur colors? Black bears come in more colors than any other North American mammal. They are almost always black in eastern populations but are brown, cinnamon, black, or occasionally blond in western populations. Other color phases are white and bluish-gray as shown in the exhibit on color phases. How can you recognize an individual black bear? Here are some things to look for: -- the muzzle color and pattern of black, brown, and blond fur -- the shape and shade of brown of their eyebrow patches, if present -- the shape and extent of white chest patches, if present. These range from a few white hairs to conspicuous patches What are some unique characteristics of black bear cubs? Cubs’ blue eyes turn brown within a year. Brown patches on the front and back of their ears usually disappear within a year. How good is black bear vision? Bears see in color and have good vision close-up. Their distance vision (over two hundred yards) has not been tested. How well do black bears hear? Black bear hearing exceeds human frequency ranges and probably twice the sensitivity. How well do black bears smell? Their smelling ability is extremely good. The limits are untested. Their nasal mucosa area is about 100 times larger than in humans. How intelligent are black bears? Black bears have a large brain compared to body size. They are one of the more intelligent mammals. Their navigation ability superior to humans. They have excellent long-term memory and can generalize to the simple concept level. Do black bears make any vocalizations? Black bears are usually silent (except in movies in which sounds are dubbed in). They do make a variety of grunts in amiable situations, loud blowing noises when frightened and clack teeth when frightened. They use a resonant, humanlike “voice” to express a range of emotions from pleasure to fear. Black bears do not threaten by growling (except in movies). In story-telling, any sound a bear makes is called a growl. Can black bears swim? Black bears have good swimming ability. Speed and distance limits are untested. They can swim at least a mile and a half in fresh water. One bear swam more than 9 miles in the Gulf of Mexico. Bears can swim to island campsites. How fast can a black bear run? Lean bears can exceed 30 mph. Bears can run uphill, downhill, or on level ground. Fat bears in winter coats overheat and tire quickly. What time of day are black bears most active? Most bears become active a half-hour before sunrise, take a nap or two during the day, and bed down for the night an hour or two after sunset. However, some bears are active at night to avoid people or bears. What foods do black bears prefer? Black bears prefer nuts, acorns, fruit, insects, succulent greens. Meat and less succulent greens are eaten when preferred foods are scarce. A scarcity of preferred foods can result in failed reproduction, stunted growth, failure to add optimal amounts of fat, and death of young bears, especially cubs. Do black bears hibernate? When hibernation was defined simply in terms of temperature reduction, bears were not considered hibernators. New knowledge of hibernation processes has led biologists to redefine mammalian hibernation as simply a specialized, seasonal reduction of metabolism concurrent with the environmental pressures of scarce food and low ambient temperatures. Black bears are now considered highly efficient hibernators. While it was once thought that they sleep for months without eating, drinking, urinating, or defecating, researchers have found through observing inconspicuously installed den cameras that bears do wake up, stretch, yawn, move about to find a corner of the den in which to urinate or defecate, chew on their footpads, eat snow, take a look outside the den entrance, etc. Black bears have insulative pelts and as a result, bears’ body heat is lost very slowly, enabling them to cut their metabolic rate in half and still make it through winter, maintaining temperatures above 88 degrees – within 12 degrees of their normal summer temperature. Mothers wake up before giving birth, typically in mid to late January, and take excellent care of the cubs in the den, licking them clean and responding to every cry for warmth and milk. How long do black bears hibernate? The length and depth of hibernation is genetically programmed to match the regional norms of food availability. Hibernation is deeper and can last over seven months in the northern portion of the black bear range where abundant, high quality food is available only from May through August. There, some bears hibernate so deeply, especially the leaner bears after a summer of unusually scarce food, that a person can jostle them for several minutes before they wake up. However, in southern states where food is available year-round, some do not hibernate at all, and those that do are easily aroused. Lean females cannot bring their fetuses to full term and do not give birth. How long do black bears live? Black bears can live 21-33 years or more if they are not killed. What are typical causes of death for black bears? Very few adult bears outside of national parks die of natural causes. Nearly all adult bears die from human-related causes. Most are eventually shot. A few are killed by vehicles. The average age of death in hunted populations is three to five years of age. Bears less than 17 months old sometimes die from starvation, predation, falls from trees, and other accidental causes. Very few die of disease. What size is a black bears home range? Typically: -- Yearlings: 1-2 miles. -- Adult females: 2-6 miles. -- Adult males: 8-15 miles. Excursions to 126 miles recorded. What is the ideal habitat for a black bear? Black bears like large forests with many different kinds of fruits and nuts. Small sunny openings within the forest provide many kinds of food for the bears. Lowlands and wetlands provide tender and juicy vegetation. Streams and woodland pools provide water for drinking and cooling. Mothers with cubs like large trees (over 20 inches in diameter) with furrowed bark (like white pines or hemlocks) for bedding sites. These trees are safest for small cubs to climb. Can we live with black bears? Many people are moving into black bear habitat. The bears’ future depends on how well we understand and tolerate them. Are black bears ferocious? Magazines and movies have given black bears an unrealistically ferocious image, causing people to fear them excessively and kill them unnecessarily. There are many misconceptions about black bears. What's the greatest misconception about black bears? The greatest misconception about black bears is that they are likely to attack people in defense of cubs. They are highly unlikely to do this. Black bear researchers often capture screaming cubs in the presence of bluff-charging mothers with no attacks. Is it dangerous to be around a black bear with cubs? Defense of cubs is a grizzly bear trait. About 70 percent of human deaths from grizzly bears are from mothers defending cubs, but (with one possible exception) black bear mothers have not been known to kill anyone in defense of cubs.