Black Bears of the Pajarito Plateau

#1 Never Feed or Approach Bears

Intentionally feeding bears or allowing them to find anything that smells or tastes like food teaches bears to approach homes and people looking for more. Bears will defend themselves if a person gets too close, so don’t risk your safety and theirs!

#2 Secure Food, Garbage and Recycling

Food and food odors attract bears, so don’t reward them with easily available food, liquids or garbage.

#3 Remove Bird Feeders When Bears Are Active

Birdseed and grains have lots of calories, so they’re very attractive to bears. Removing feeders is the best way to avoid creating conflicts with bears.

#4 Never Leave Pet Food Outdoors

Feed pets indoors when possible. If you must feed pets outside, feed in single portions and remove food and bowls after feeding. Store pet food where bears can’t see or smell it.

#5 Clean & Store Grills

Clean grills after each use and make sure that all grease, fat and food particles are removed. Store clean grills and smokers in a secure area that keeps bears out.

#6 Alert Neighbors to Bear Activity

See bears in the area or evidence of bear activity? Tell your neighbors and share information on how to prevent conflicts with bears. Bears have adapted to living near people; now it’s up to us to adapt to living near bears.

What Bears Do & Where They Go

Black bears are active from spring through fall, and typically hibernate in winter, curled up in dens. Bears choose many different kinds of dens, including hollow trees, under fallen trees, excavated mounds, or in ‘nests’ under briar patches. In more temperate areas, male bears and females without cubs may not hibernate at all during the winter.

Adult bears generally lead solitary lives except during courting, although juveniles and adult males sometimes “play” together. Females raise cubs for up to a year and a half. Bears tend to be most active at dusk and dawn.

Home on the Range

Bears do not have territories, they have home ranges that often overlap. Several females may live within the home range of an adult male. A bear’s home range needs to be large enough to provide them with food, shelter, and mates. Males have larger home ranges (up to 300 square miles) than females (up to 50 square miles). Bears travel farthest when food is harder to find, especially in early spring.

A Sensational Nose

A black bear can smell the scent of a human in a footprint, ripe berries in the air, and a steak grilling a mile away. A bear’s big nose is seven times more sensitive than a bloodhound’s nose, or 2,100 times better than ours. An amazing amount of olfactory information swirls in from the outside world.

Bears Eat A Lot

From spring through late summer, a 250-pound bear needs about 3,000 to 3,500 calories per day. During the annual fall eat-a-thon (hyperphagia), bears can gain several pounds a day (20 to 100% of their summer weight), eating 15,000 to 20,000 calories or more each day preparing to hibernate.

Bears are omnivores: a bear’s natural diet is 70-85% plant based. In spring, they tend to eat mostly plants. In summer, they feast on berries and insects, and in fall, they harvest nuts and more berries. They also eat carrion (dead animals), small mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians.

Do Bears Really Hibernate?

Some people believe that bears are not true hibernators. Squirrels, bats, rodents, marmots and other true hibernators enter a state close to suspended animation where body temperatures fall close to freezing and metabolisms slow almost to a halt.

A bear’s metabolism, heartbeat and respiration rate drops dramatically, but its body temperatures only drops about 12 degrees during hibernation. They don’t eat at all, nor do they go to the bathroom; bears’ dens are remarkably clean and odor-free … unlike true hibernators who wake up every few days to drink, go to the bathroom and nibble some stored food before going back to sleep.

A bear’s body is a model of recycling. While they’re hibernating, they recycle all of their waste products and actually heal any injuries they may have had when they turned in. So many scientists now call bears “Super Hibernators” because they can fall into a deep sleep for four to six months without eating or drinking, wake up in the spring and head back out into the world.

All About Bear Cubs

An average of two to three cubs are born in the den in January/February. At birth, they weigh only ½ to ¾ pounds. Cubs depend on their mothers for about a year and half.  She feeds them, teaches them, and protects them from predators that include foxes, coyotes, bobcats, dogs, and other bears.  Read more about bear cubs at BearWise.org

What to do if you find a bear cub...

Bears are great moms. It’s very unlikely the cubs have been abandoned. In fact, there’s an excellent chance mom is nearby, waiting anxiously for you to disappear. The longer you stay, the longer she will be separated from her cubs.

• Don’t pick up cubs; even little bears have super sharp claws.
• Don’t touch them or leave them food.
• Please don’t turn them into real orphans by removing them from their home.

Typically, mom will return to gather up her family when no people or pets are around, usually after dark. As the cubs get older and more mobile, mother bears often leave their cubs to go forage for food (the kids are always hungry) as much as two miles away.

If you believe the cub is truly orphaned, do not touch it. Instead, snap a quick photo, note the location and immediately leave the area. Contact your state wildlife agency for further guidance.