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Here’s a spring bear, a 2-year old I know from last year, not long out of den and still with winter fur, looking much bigger than it’s 100 pounds max. A few weeks later it was sleek brown and had really shrunk!
Mark — Down here in the southern Rockies most of our black bears are some other color than black, which is a rarity in fact. Most common is some shade of brown, often so far they almost appear black, like this little sow. Cinnamon and blonde are also fairly common. On top of that confusion, the long winter hair often bleaches to almost white in den, so that when they emerge in spring they appear blond, but as time goes on and the old hair rubs off they “turn” another color, that is, their true underfur color is revealed. Thus the term “color phase” for black bears. On this one you can see the fringe or remaining long bleached winter hair on her back. She small, under 200 pounds and not fat. Nursing two yearling cubs. Here are some more pics …
People pay no attention when I tell them that in the arid West, you can rely on bears to have a midday swim in isolated water, like this spring pool. Photos taken yesterday and I’ve seen it many many times. If it’s cold it doesn’t work nearly so well of course. Heat of the day is the time. Food patches — berries, acorns, osha, osmorhiza, clover, grass, carrion and gut piles during hunting season, a saddle pass with good habitat on both sides, screaming rabbit predator calls … endless wasy to ethically and successfully hunt bears using woodsmanship rather than bait.
