June at a Glance: Yearlings leave mom and search for food, shelter and a place of their own. Adult males travel far and wide looking for mates. Nursing moms venture farther from home base searching for food. Cubs keep growing and developing. Spring lessons can be life-changing.
The Black Bear is a stocky, large animal, one of the largest mammals in North America. Adults reach a length of 5 to 6 feet, height at the shoulder of 2 to 3 feet, and weigh 90-400 pounds or more, depending on food resources. Although called a “black” bear, colors can range from black to the occasional cinnamon brown. Front claws are generally longer than hind claws. The fur is long and coarse. Although generally harmless, Black Bears can injure humans when provoked and should be treated with caution (see BearWise and Bear Safety for more information on safety and conflict).
-
Texas Status
Threatened
Yearlings Move Out
Bears that were born last spring and denned up with mom this past winter are now 18-month old yearlings. If all goes well, they’ll be the size of a medium-sized dog by the end of June, although their fur coats can make them look larger. Yearling females are often allowed to move in next door to their mom. Yearling males are strongly encouraged to move out and go find a new territory of their own, so most young bears wandering far from home are males.
Spring Lessons Can Be Life-Changing
They may look big and furry, but yearling bears are all trying to figure out how to live without their mom’s help. They are often lonely and lack the fully developed survival skills of an adult bear. They are also hungry and inquisitive and will instinctively check out anything that seems as if it might be a source of food.
Like human teenagers, yearlings are at a very impressionable stage of life. If they quickly discover that human places should be avoided, they will learn to support themselves as wild bears. If they find the backyard pickings are easy, they start down a road that is often a dead end. No matter how cute they look and how hungry they are, never feed or approach them. The best thing you can do to help yearling bears grow up wild is to make sure there’s nothing around your home to attract them. (Download our Be BearWise at Home Checklist.)
Adult Bears Look for Mates
Female bears that are now empty-nesters as well as mature females that didn’t give birth last winter will soon be ready to mate. Female bears seldom leave their home ranges; for the good of the gene pool, they let the males come find them. A female bear may mate with several different males, and it’s not uncommon for litter-mates to all have different fathers.
Ranges, not Territories
Adult bears have home ranges, not exclusive territories. A home range needs to be large enough to provide food, water, shelter and mates. The size of a home range varies greatly, but a male bear’s home range can be up to 300 square miles, typically five or six times larger than a female’s living in the same general area. Bears share their home ranges with other bears of both sexes, but not at the same time except for a male and female during breeding season or yearlings that are still hanging out with each other.
-
Habitat
- The American Black Bear is found throughout much of North America in habitats ranging from swamps to desert scrub. At least two subspecies of Black Bear are thought to occur in Texas: the Mexican Black Bear (Ursus americanus eremicus) and the New Mexico Black Bear (subspecies U. a. amblyceps). Both are found in West Texas in desert scrub or woodland habitats within scattered mountain ranges, predominantly the Chisos and Guadalupe Mountains. The Louisiana Black Bear (subspeciesU. a. luteolus) is not known to be found in Texas, though occasionally, an individual Eastern Black Bear (subspecies U. a. americanus) may wander into northeastern Texas for a short time before returning to Arkansas or Oklahoma; however, potential forested habitat exists in the eastern part of the state.
Distribution
A population requires resident breeding female bears. Currently, the only population of Black Bears in Texas is in the Trans-Pecos and Val Verde and Crockett counties. Black Bears can move far distances, especially when dispersing as subadults or searching for resources in times of drought or mast failure. Therefore, a Black Bear can show up almost anywhere in the state and the presence of a single individual in an area does not mean there is a local bear population.The Black Bear is on the state threatened species list. TPWD encourages people to report recent bear sightings to their local Texas Parks and Wildlife Department biologist. Research is currently underway by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to estimate the population size of Black Bears in West Texas and to better understand how the species is recolonizing parts of Texas.
Cub Nursery School Continues
Moms are still nursing, but cubs are learning how to supplement their diets with more natural bear foods. Cubs take after their moms in several ways: they are super-smart, have a keen sense of smell, learn quickly, have good memories and are very adaptable. So, if mom teaches them to avoid people-places and forage for natural foods, they learn to live wild. But if mom shows them how to raid the garbage or bat down bird feeders or sends them in through the pet door to see what’s in the kitchen, the lessons learned can put their lives in danger.
Where’s the Bear Food?
Natural spring and early summer foods like tender leaves and grasses and developing plants are not as calorie-dense and nutritious as the nuts and fruits that ripen later in the year, so all bears travel further looking for food. Mother bears usually have between one and three hungry, demanding mouths to feed. Moms start traveling further looking for food, and cubs are left home alone for longer stretches of time, usually near the den or underneath a handy “sanctuary tree” they can climb in a few seconds.
What’s on the June Menu?
Black bears are omnivores; they will eat pretty much anything with calories. The bulk of their spring and early summer diet is what people think of as a salad topped with whatever protein might be available – insects, carrion (dead animals), fish, small mammals, reptiles and amphibians. Nursing mothers need more calories to stay healthy enough to keep producing milk for the cubs and may actually lose weight until more calorie-dense foods become available later in the year and cubs start eating more on their own.
Make it a BearWise June
Now you know the reasons bears and people cross paths more often in June. Explore our many resources that will help you avoid attracting bears and stay safe at home and outdoors. Thanks for living BearWise and doing your part to keep bears wild.
Article source: Texas Parks and Wildlife & BearWise
Photo credit: Tom Harrison
