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| [Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note |
Hi everyone
This is closer shot from last shot. The same bear. When I was waiting for him to get closer to me( as I said near 2meters) a guy which was park guide very slowly like whispering start talking to me from behind of me. I was taking shots and he told me don’t move very fast; don’t make any sound and start moving back. When I went back he was telling me that for two reasons never get close to any animals:
1- They become use to human beings and this is very dangerous for bears because they are always hunters around and they can’t protect and cover all of the parks.
2- These animals and specially black bear is not predictable. They sometimes do very strange actions and then he told me a funny comparison:
Once, in north of Vancouver a black bear passing a back yard of a house, and they had a male cat. The cat attacked the bear and bear frighten and escape to a very tall tree. He was remaining 15min on top of tree until the male cat went inside home. On the other hand, on of them attached a girl while she was eating a sandwich. They are unpredictable.
Ecology and behavior
Black bear, Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge
Black bear cub, Glacier Bay National Park
American black bear tracks on a dirt road, Book Cliffs, UT
American black bear, Parc Oméga, QC, CanadaBlack bears are found in a wide variety of habitats across their range. They prefer forested and shrubby areas but they are also known to live on ridgetops, in tidelands, burned areas, riparian areas, agricultural fields and, sometimes, avalanche chutes. Black bears can be found from hardwood and conifer swamps to the rather dry sage and pinyon-juniper habitats in the western states. Black bears typically "hibernate" during winter in hollowed-out dens in tree cavities, under logs or rocks, in banks, caves, or culverts, and in shallow depressions. Dens are normally not reused from one year to the next. While they do not eat, drink, defecate, or urinate during hibernation, it is not the true hibernation of smaller mammals since their body temperature does not drop significantly and they remain somewhat alert and active. Females give birth and nurse their young while hibernating.
After emerging from their winter dens in spring, they seek carrion from winter-killed animals and new shoots of many plant species, especially wetland plants. In mountainous areas, they seek southerly slopes at lower elevations for forage and move to northerly and easterly slopes at higher elevations as summer progresses. Black bears use dense cover for hiding and thermal protection, as well as for bedding. They climb trees to escape danger and use forested areas and rivers as travel corridors.
Females generally reach breeding maturity at 3 to 4 years of age and with adequate nutrition can breed every 2 years. In poor quality habitat, they may not mature until 5-7 and may skip breeding cycles. Males are sexually mature at same age, but may not become large enough to win breeding rights until they are 4-5 years old (they have to be large enough to win fights with other males and be accepted by females). Mating is generally during summer, from Mid-June to mid-August with some variation depending on latitude, but with embryonic diapause (delayed implantation), the embryos do not begin to develop until the mother dens in the fall to hibernate through the winter months. Because of this delay, gestation can be 7 to 8 months, but actual development takes about 60 days. However, if food was scarce and the mother has not gained enough fat to sustain herself during hibernation as well as produce and feed cubs, the embryos do not develop.
The cubs are generally born in January or February. They are very small, about 10-14 ounces, and are blind, nearly hairless, and helpless when born. Two to three cubs are most common, though up to four and even five cubs has been documented. First-time mothers typically have only a single cub. The mother nurses the cubs with rich milk, and by spring thaw, when the bears start leaving their dens, the cubs are fur-balls of energy, inquisitive and playful. By this time they are about 4 to 8 pounds (2-4 kg). When their mother senses danger, she grunts to the cubs to climb high up a tree. They are weaned between July and September of their first year and stay with the mother through the first winter. The cubs become independent during their second summer (when they are 1.5 years old). At this time, the sow goes into estrus (heat) again.
Cub survival is totally dependent on the skill of the mother in teaching her cubs what to eat, where and how to forage (find food), where to den, and when and where to seek shelter from heat or danger.
Attacks on humans
Like many animals, they seldom attack unless cornered, threatened, or wounded. They are less likely to attack humans than grizzly bears and typically have long since fled for cover before one catches sight of them. Deaths by grizzlies are most often defensive, while black bear fatalities on humans, although extremely rare, are often predatory. This makes feigning death when a black bear attacks ineffective. Although 14 North Americans have been killed since the year 2000, it is estimated that there have been only 56 documented killings of humans by black bears in North America in the past 100 years. |
Maite, vanderschelden, Luis52 has marked this note useful
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