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Bears
Black Bears
Black Bears
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Black Bears
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According to Norwalk:
"The Asiatic black bear frequents moist deciduous forests and brushy areas, especially in the hills and mountains. It ascends to elevations as high as 3,600 meters in the summer and descends in the winter. It swims well. According to Lekagul and McNeely (1977), this bear is generally nocturnal, sleeping during the day in hollow trees, caves, or rock crevices. It is also seen abroad by day when favored fruits are ripening. It climbs expertly to reach fruit and beehives. It usually walks on all fours but often stands on its hind legs so that its forepaws can be used in fighting. The diet includes fruit, buds, invertebrates, small vertebrates, and carrion. Domestic livestock is sometimes taken, and animals as large as adult buffalo are killed by breaking their necks." Nowak RM. 1991. Walker ’s mammals of the world, Vol. I and II. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ Press. http://shaggygod.proboards.com/
http://www.himalayantigers.org/research-program/
Himalayan Black bears are protected  *This image is copyright of its original author In fact people are regularly mauled by bears. Two weeks back, a bear mauled a woman in her own kitchen garden in Khasakha, above Khasadrapchu. Another bear escaped from a trap in an apple orchard in Pachakha, near Khasadrapchu. Bears have attacked humans, destroyed crops, and cattle. The Himalayan black bear was usually aggressive when provoked and it was commonly believed that bears could wait for up to nine years to avenge an injury. Autumn is the bear's migratory season and time to prepare for hibernation so they are frequently out in the orchards. The Himalayan Black bear falls under the Schedule I of protected animals in the Forest and Nature conservation Act. Although poaching of the bear is strictly prohibited, according to the Act, traps or snares are allowed in private registered land like orchards and crop fields. In Bhutan, bears are killed for the bile, which has medicinal value and therefore fetches a good price. 
Credits to YNP wildlife.
Black bear momma with two new born baby cubs of the year. 
Pennsylvania black bears are possibly the largest black bears in the world.
Growth dynamic :  *This image is copyright of its original author ''By age two, males in Pennsylvania average 240 pounds and females, 180 pounds. Full growth is usually reached by age five for females, or nine for males, and average adult weights stabilize near 250 and 500 pounds, respectively (Fig. 3). Adult males are 70 to 74 inches long and at least 30 inches high at the shoulder. Adult females are 59 to 62 inches long and rarely more than 30 inches at the shoulder (Eveland 1973, Alt 1980b). Black bears in parts of Pennsylvania appear to grow faster and larger than almost anywhere else in North America (Alt 1980b).'' ''Subadult bears (i.e., less than three years old) of both sexes tend to gain weight throughout spring and summer. Adult males, on the other hand, generally lose weight or remain stable during this time. Spring-summer weights of adult females vary depending on whether they are with newborn cubs, one-year-old cubs, or solitary (Alt 1980b). All bears tend to gain weight in the fall and lose weight during winter hibernation. However, despite losing weight in the winter – sometimes as much as 30 percent – many bears in Pennsylvania emerge from dens in relatively good condition (Gerstell 1939, Alt 1980b), but additional weight loss in early spring is possible.'' Source : MANAGEMENT AND BIOLOGY OF BLACK BEARS IN PENNSYLVANIA (originally posted on shaggygod) However, many of those bears feed on garbage dumps and birds feeders which have an impact on their size, thats something to consider.
Credits to Chris Norcott.
Black bear with her 3 newborn cubs I photographed last winter from their den. She's grabbing one of her explorers and trying to keep him from leaving. Soon after her three cubs opened their eyes and started to crawl the mothers time sleeping became short and seldom. Trying to keep her three cubs from crawling out of the den and into potential danger was a 24/7 challenge.  *This image is copyright of its original author
Credits to Chris Norcott.
In last nights post this bear had her cubs tucked well underneath her keeping them out of the wind and rain. Here a few weeks later on a calm morning in the forest the cubs are curled up against their mother in the same position but with a little more freedom to move around. You can tell she's wiped out from caring for her fast growing spring cubs.  *This image is copyright of its original author
Growth dynamic of black bears in Dehcho and North Slave regions of the Upper Mackenzie Basin in Northwest Territories in Canada :
 *This image is copyright of its original author Source : Body condition and growth dynamics of American black bears in northern Canada
Credits to Chris Norcott.
This bear is making the best of a large rub tree on a winter afternoon. When I'm in the forest the trees tell me much of what I need to know about what bears are up to during the course of the year. Some of you may be familiar with bears "dancing" on rub trees as there are numerous videos circulating on the internet. It's very comical watching them when they find one of their favorite trees. So, why do they do this? There are a number of theories such as scent marking, scratching, utilizing sap to help heal wounds and territory marking etc. I'm always on the lookout for these trees while I hike through the forest. If I find one there's a good chance I'll find a bear nearby. Several of the rub trees I keep an eye on have hair from different bears stuck to the bark which can be their course guard hair or the under coat which is thin and soft. In this image look to the right of the bears ear you'll notice the bark of the tree is almost gone. This is common when the bear bite and claw this area shredding the bark and exposing the sap which in this case is from an eastern white pine.  *This image is copyright of its original author
Credits to Liz Talbot - Wildlife Mad Travellers.
In early summer black bears feast on dandelions and other flowers and grasses at the side of the highway. Insects add to their diet, ants, beetles, bees, and anything else with six, eight or more legs! We saw this black bear during our Alaska & Yukon road trip earlier this year.  *This image is copyright of its original author
Credits to Ranjith Kumar.
Himalayan black bear Dachigam National park  *This image is copyright of its original author
These Asiatic Black bears are morphologically convergent toward the American Black bears.
From Leopard Land National Park:
A bear attempted to “check” a trail camera on the “Land of the Leopard” A curious Himalayan black bear almost dismantled an automatic photo camera installed in the National Park “Land of the Leopard”. For the first time in all the period of the monitoring the taliped almost “managed” to take a memory card out of the device but the video recording of the “crime” process remained on it. Read more: http://leopard-land.ru/news/5750
Credits to Bill Lea.
Looks can be soooo deceiving and misinterpreted - especially if it is a look on a black bear's face!!! I love this bear - his name is Patch Jr. Patch is a big male and he LOVES the water, especially on a hot summer afternoon. He often goes and sits in the water of a shallow creek in an effort to cool-off. If the bugs are bad he goes into a culvert and just hangs-out. He barely fits or should I say he "bearly" fits? He is totally content spending an hour or more in the culvert. Sometimes he unintentionally startles other bears when they come down to the creek to get a drink near the culvert where he often resides. Sometimes they huff and blow a bit when surprised at the presence of such a big bear so close-by. But Patch takes it all in stride and never responds. He just remains cool - in more ways than one. Although Patch is kind of a hulk of a bear, he has a very mild disposition. He gets along well with other bears and is more than willing to share the creek. So, the very intense and actually somewhat intimidating look on Patch's face in tonight's photo comes as a bit of a surprise to me. In the hands of the wrong person, such a photo could be used to mislead others about the gentle nature of this bear and others. So why such an intense look from Patch???? He was watching a dragonfly trying to catch mosquiotes fluttering back and forth right in front of his face. Yes!! When it comes to bears, a single photo can be very deceiving and misleading, but Patch and I know better..... and now, so do you.  *This image is copyright of its original author
Credits to Bill Lea.
I love to watch bears wrestle and play. It is not something that happens very often, but when It does - it is definitely special. Younger males tend to play most often (not counting sibling cubs, who engage in play all of the time). Such play usually happens when there is an abundant food source where bears have gathered and the young bears have more than adequate body weight. Underweight, hungry bears would seldom, if ever, play. Such play normally includes mouthing, gentle nipping, pushing, shoving, standing, rolling, and of course, getting dirty. Obviously, some of those same attributes apply to little boys playing and wrestling too. (Remember, bears are so much like us.) In tonight's photo we see one bear applying a "bear hug" on another bear in a "take down" attempt - but it was to no avail. Watching a couple of bears like this just having fun and enjoying life is music to my ears. I love it!  *This image is copyright of its original author
Credits to Bill Lea.
I think one of the things that endears many of us to bears is that in so many ways they remind of ourselves. This can be in their behaviors, emotions, body structure (particularly when they stand up on their hind feet), and more. One of my favorite similarities is how they can sit and get into comfortable positions much in the way we might. I find this happens most often when they find just the right branch, downed tree, or in tonight's case, the perfect rock. The relatively young male bear in tonight's photo interrupted is scratching and grooming to take a quick look at me to make sure I was behaving and practicing proper bear etiquette (like not looking when he was scratching his private parts). I was acting appropriately and he returned to what he was doing, unaware that he provided me with just the right look I was hoping for. I love these endearing moments!  *This image is copyright of its original author
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