Black bear facts are hard to separate from the myths surrounding these majestic misunderstood animals. When you think of black bears, are you afraid? Do you think of a bear with its teeth bared?
Or maybe you are unafraid and think of SmokeyBear, trying to prevent forest fires? Most of us are afraid of bears but should we be fearful of this misunderstood animal?
The short answer is no. Black bears kill less than 1 person a year on average. One of the problems is the media sensationalism of an attack. What we really need is a paradigm shift in how we relate to wildlife, especially bears.
Black bears have a bad, undeserved reputation.
Is a mom bear dangerous with cubs? Photo:©David and Shiela Glatz, Glatz Nature Photography. All Rights Reserved
Is A Mama Bear Dangerous?
And the myth a momma black bear is most dangerous with cubs? Untrue. Generally, the cubs will just climb a tree and mom goes about her business.
In fact, there is not a single fatality associated with a mom defending her cubs, ever! Of course, you should keep your distance as any mother animal will protect her babies if threatened.
Be respectful if you see a black bear, or any kind of bear.
What If You See A Bear?
The golden rules are:
- Be respectful and keep your distance.
- Do not leave food around a campsite or your house. Many bear attacks involve hungry lone males looking for food.
- If you do encounter one, back away slowly, make a lot of noise and do not run. Darn, the old joke of always hike with someone who is slower than you doesn’t apply here.
Cool Black Bear Facts
Black bears are the only population of bears which are increasing. Diagram: Peppermint Narwhal
Bears are great swimmers and tree climbers. Really, I never thought of them as swimmers. Sounds like our kind of sports!
The smallest and most common of the 8 bear species is the black bear. And they only live in North America. Can you name the other species? (Answer at the end)
Bears eat just about anything making them omnivores. They love berries, nuts, grasses, fish, small mammals, carrion (dead animals) and birdseed from your feeders. Which is why we take our feeders in every night!
When winter arrives, they stay dormant in a den they have made out of leaves, branches and other forest material. During this time, they don’t eat or drink anything. Hmmm. That doesn’t sound fun!
A baby black bear climbing a tree. Photo:©David and Shiela Glatz, Glatz Nature Photography. All Rights Reserved.
Why are Black Bears so Important?
As apex predators, they keep our ecosystem healthy. But how?
Well, to begin with, they clean up dead animal carcasses which can spread disease to other animals.
They disperse seeds throughout their territory. If you have ever seen bear poop, you know what we mean!
Bears also love to dig for insects which mixes up the soil nutrients to help surrounding plants grow.
Become A Black Bear Advocate
Please don’t feed bears. They become habituated to humans and can become nuisances. Once they start bothering people, they can be removed from the area or worse, killed.
Keep your garbage in a bear-proof container or inside so bears can not get in your trash looking for food that might be in it.
Take bird feeders in at night as bears love to eat the seed. We do leave our hummingbird feeders out and have had them knocked down a couple of times by bears. But they don’t get hit as often as the seed feeders.
Slow down in known bear areas so you don’t accidentally run into one on the road.
Support local zoos and/or conservation groups that protect black bears. In our area, we support the NC Zoo, WNC Nature Center & Rowan Wild, all of which have black bears.
And give a shout out to black bears on social media. Help dispel the myths about this North American native wonder.
A black bear in our backyard eyeing our bird feeders
Learn More About Black Bears
Discover Wildlife: 12 amazing black bear facts
National Geographic: American Black Bear
Answer to the name of the 8 bear species: American black, brown (also known as grizzly), polar, giant panda, sloth, spectacled, sun and Asiatic black. To learn more about the different species read Bears of the World
