Driving home from Renfrew after a fundraising event we were surprised and delighted to witness a black bear lope across the road a few 100 metres away. It and we were never in danger of a collision, and it happened so quickly that the bear had disappeared into the forest before we even pulled up to the crossing site.
The Black Bear is the smallest of the three types of bears in Canada. (Enter our contest by July 15th to win a black bear from our gift store by naming the other two bear types in Canada – sramey@campkawartha.ca) It is thickset and can appear bigger and heavier than it really is – males are generally 135 kg while females are much smaller at about 70 kg.
Black bears prefer heavily wooded areas and dense bush of mixed coniferous and deciduous trees (exactly what we were driving through). Like many animals they have regular routes of travel – females usually range 10-40 km₂ and males about 100 km₂. Males have a larger range to ensure they meet up with as many females as possible!
In the fall the bears begin to search for dens. Females will den earlier and line their dens with grasses, ferns, and leaves in anticipation of births. Males often wait for the first snowfall before they den.
A mother bear will usually give birth in January or February to two cubs although any number between one and four or five can occur. The number in the litter depends on the condition of the mother.
A beautiful and fascinating animal, the greatest threat to black bears is the fragmentation of their habitat. Clearing of forests and urban sprawl tend to be the biggest culprits. Of course, never feed or approach a bear. More often than not you will only see them as we did – fleetingly. They avoid human contact – smart animal!
