Black Bear - Ursus americanus

It is Spring in Southern British Columbia. The Yellow Glacier Lilies, Erythronium grandiflorum, have sprung from their bulbs; the sure sign that the Black Bears will follow. They will come out of their dens and, taking it easy, they will start digging for the starchy bulbs. 

Their appetite will eventually grow to its full potential but after such a long winter sleep there is nothing better than a gentle vegetarian diet to make the digestive juices flow.

Surely, if they happen to find a winter kill they will not turn their noses up. But such treasures are not as common, and besides, competition for all that protein might be great. Which means that it will not last long.

So bulbs and roots of the spring are the starters for the season.

Western Skunk Cabbage or Yellow Skunk Cabbage, Lysichiton americanus is another plant of the Spring. Its yellow blossoms come up in the swamps and wet areas of the valley bottoms giving out a strangely unpleasantly-pleasant smell. It does remind one of a skunk but if I had to choose, I would go for the plant. They stink to attract pollinating flies and other insects but the smell also attracts bears. They like to eat the roots that are said to have have medicinal properties and  that bears seek them out in order to clean their digestive system that had been idle for several months of winter hibernation.




People seem to have fascination with bears because, in many ways, they behave like us. 
They are resourceful, curious and cunning, they can solve problems and, if unprovoked, mostly tolerant towards our species.  
Unfortunately, just like people, there are some are predatory troublemakers who give a bad name to the rest of their kin.

The bears can sneak up on us, without us ever seeing them (what might give them away is their smell.) 



Another thing that makes them so "human" is their habit of standing up on their hind legs - being flat footed they really do take on that semi-human appearance when they rear up and look about to figure out what's going on. 

The above photo of favourite photo a cub and its feet is one of my favourite images. Don't ask me why.

A black bear Mom is totally dedicated to her cub or cubs. There could be only one but often there are two or three or even four. In a loving but strict manner she will patiently teach them everything she knows. There are no buts or whys; she knows better than anyone that the cub's (or cubs') survival depends on discipline.

And she will protect it (or them) even if it means putting her life at stake. 

Another plant they love to eat is Common Dandelion, Taraxacum officinale. I told you that the bears were smart! Dandelions do have medicinal properties and they are finally becoming known for that. 

For decades people were killing those plants with carcinogenic herbicides instead of using them in salads, making cough syrup or drying the roots for teas. Meanwhile the bears were seeking them as an important part of their diets. Tongue in cheek but true.

Black bears got their common name from - being black. Although predominant, black is not the only colour in their gene pool to show. They say that the bears in Eastern parts of the continent are mostly black - more westwardly one goes, better chances to find brown. cinnamon, or even white bears - all being "black" bear, Ursus americanus. 
Long live Latin names!

Saskatoon Berry

 Bears are mostly vegetarian and it is interesting to see how their diet progresses during the seasons.

It changes from digging the spring roots and bulbs to grasses and poplar buds to munching dandelions - flowers and leaves at first, and then, later on, the seeds; all kinds of seeds until the berries ripen in the woods (or in human gardens).

Bear Berry, Wild Currant, Twisted stalk berry, mushrooms .... just a few of wild foods on the ursine menu.

 Though 80 or maybe even more % vegetarian, they are no vegans: on the contrary: any young or wounded animal can be their prey, They are strong and fast - a "clumsy bear" can run as fast as a horse. They are good hunters. An unguarded fawn, or one of its cousins, would be a great addition to the bear's diet. 

Bears are omnivores, just like us.

Bears love to eat ants - every year, especially in spring, we find the large ant hills torn apart by the powerful claws. 

Wood Ants, Formica rufa

This bear insisted on inspecting the railway tracks in Yoho N.P.

At first we were not sure why it chose the location - until someone enlighten us - there is a lot of wheat being transported by trains from the prairies to the ports of the West Coast. 
Some of the grain finds its way out of the train and onto the tracks.The ever resourceful bears make sure it does not go to waste.

Black bears often visit places occupied by humans - Spring and Fall being the most preferred seasons. 

Spring, because since there is not much to find in the wild,  

Autumn, because there are delicious apples and plums in human orchards.

Also, I am sorry to say, there is always garbage around the human dwellings.

It is wise to keep the places clean  and it is also wise not to underestimate bear's ability to open whatever it is that it decides to open. This flimsy setup was no match for a hungry bear. Should we call a "conservation" officer and have the bear shot?  Whose fault was it that the animal was snooping about?

How about a thorough cleanup and a trip to a garbage dump so the ambidexter has no reason to come back.



That's why the Park people came up with this idea: 
a bear-proof garbage disposal that nowadays graces every rest stop along the Canadian and American roads.

I know that the locals are familiar with the idea but I always
get questions from our overseas guests: What is that?
Now they know.

Bears will happily explore all possibilities - these pails of asphalt looked promising. It was no big deal for the bear to quietly open some of them to see what's inside. No crobar needed, thank you very much.

Since the edibility was questionable the bear decided to partially paint the driveway before it took its leave to look for something else.

It would have paid off to not to rush the prep work and leave the pails in the garage until the morning. Live and learn!

Interactions with bears can be risky. Unless you are Charlie Russel they will run away. Or they will not. If they stand their ground they are not afraid  and they might attack. Or they might not. They might bluff charge. Or they might not.
They might be pretending to look at something far away or to feed or to casually walk away.  Don't let them fool you.  Be wise and be prepared. Have your pepper spray handy, do not run (easy to say) and above all gather all the knowledge you can before venturing into the bear country. there is a lot of information out there:  http://www.bearaware.bc.ca/




I was in a small truck with a young lady visitor when we met this bear. It was about hundred meters away, feeding on dandelions. We pulled off the highway and stopped in a small flat area just by the road. The bear did not seem to mind and we sat, motionless, inside - windows open and our cameras, equipped with 300mm lenses clicking away. All of a sudden the bear stopped feeding, the hair on its neck went up, the ears began to flatten back. We were far enough (and motionless) from its patch of dandelions; we were silent, the engine was off.  So why was the bear agitated? It started to walk towards us and we did not need any lessons in body language - the bear was really crossed with us. Then it dawned on me: my companion, being a girl of 18 and from the biggest city on the planet, was heavily drenched in perfume!
Close the window! Quick!
Lock the door!
The bear walked all the way to the front tire, stood there for a long while, ears flattened back, hair standing up, obviously thinking what to do next. 
Since nothing moved it walked away in disgust, still fully ready to turn back. 
We, already turning blue, exhaled. Lesson learned. Bears dislike strong smells like perfumes or other human odours. And they are right - leave the nasty chemicals at home - I too, like the bear, was sick of that perfume.


This black bear was guarding its dandelion patch making it obvious that it would not be a good idea to get any closer than we already were when we surprised it. It did bluff charged to make sure that we left the area. There are no jokes when the food is involved.

Carry the bear spray and do make noise!

Though they mostly mind their bear business, once in a while we hear about bear attacks. We can probably find percentages of ..... predatory, defensive, protective and so on. It was not until about a couple of decades ago that Dr. Stephen Herrero did a thorough analysis: it is a gruesome but truthful reading that should make people think ..... it seems to me, that, save for a few, there is always some human factor in those stories. 

And, of course, those who want to know a lot about the bears know the work of Charlie Russel, the man who helped to change many peoples' attitudes towards the bruins.

I have not met a fellow European who came to North America and weren't fascinated by bears. 
Some more, some less, some positively, some the other way. 
But, just like I, they all like to exchange stories of "all the bears I've met..."

The bears of my European youth (now way half the century past) were always portrayed as bloodthirsty, meat ripping animals that needed to be hunted down and shot. The hunters were great heroes, no matter how they killed the bear.

Thank goodness that attitude is slowly changing and thanks to many dedicated people many of us understand  the biology of the bears much better. 

The hero-hunter stories of the past make us now grimace in disgust and a dusty fireplace rug and a stuffed animal in the hallway reminds us of an unnecessary death.


Still, each time we return for a short visit to the "old" continent, we get a request or two: 
"Would you host my .... son, grandson....someone ...he would so much love to shoot (to harvest) a bear".  Not observe, not photograph but kill. I am serious.
(Stop calling it "a harvest", please.)

Turn hundred and eighty degrees towards the other parts of the globe and have a look. 
I spent a year in Beijing (one of many such places) where the health stores were offering pickled snakes,  lizards and bats and who knows whats, along with bear gallbladder wine, bear gallbladder powder .... bear this and bear that .....
I do know of cholic acid and all that. But the modern medicine has arrived a while ago .... I remeber to be so outraged in that city, void of nature that all I wanted to do was to break the shop window and scream: Come'on guys - have you not heard about Viagra yet? STOP killing MY bears! 
Our bears, I should say. It was a powerful and hopeless feeling that I will never forget.

But whom am I pointing a finger at? They pay - we cater. Money talks to many. So sad.

We found two dead bears in November 2010 - this one looks like a grizzly bear.
We reported the find, what happened after is unknown to us.

There are many young people who understand and wish to protect nature and they work very hard at it. 
After being badly slaughtered the European wildlife seems to be creeping back. I am not sure about the rest of the world. There is a strong young movement towards protection of Nature in many countries - unfortunately for each hundred environmentally minded souls there is always the bloodthirsty or money-greedy one .... that's enough: damage done.

So here: a Yellow Glacier Lily for all the bears I've met ..... most of whom (as I know for a fact) are no longer around despite the fact that each one of them could roam the countryside for twenty or more years.