View Full Version : Bears in winter?
Earl Grey
12-26-2006, 02:43
Black bears should be hibernating right now if they got enough fat on them during the year. Is a bear sighting in winter still possible or are the chances greatly reduced? Also if they are out there would they attack you more since they could be hungry?
virtualfrog
12-26-2006, 02:57
Greatly reduced would probably be accurate, though I'd rate it an understatement. At least in my neck of the woods.
copythat
12-26-2006, 04:29
Black bears should be hibernating right now if they got enough fat on them during the year. Is a bear sighting in winter still possible or are the chances greatly reduced? Also if they are out there would they attack you more since they could be hungry?
connecticut's dep has a fact sheet online ... http://tinyurl.com/6kobo ... and a guy there told me that with the mild fall/winter we've had so far, some bear might be late to enter their den, so the chance of seeing one is greater, but with the mild weather the food is still plentiful, so they're not going to see you as a quarter-pounder with cheese.
but when i asked him how many bear he asked about this all, he hemmed and hawed. my feeling is he's kind of guessing.
Frolicking Dinosaurs
12-26-2006, 06:25
I live pretty close to bear country and have several friends that see them in their backyards frequently. While they sleep most of the winter, some do wake up and forage a bit. One of my friends watched one clean out her birdfeeder and doggie dishes last Febuary. It is possible to see one in the winter, but it is really unlikely.
As for the hunger question - yes, any bear out of the nest in mid-winter is likely hungry, but you aren't the menu. You are a large animal that takes lots of time and effort to catch and eat... and the bear has no competition from other bears for the foods it normally eats. Nice big fat grub worms - full of energy and available year round under blowdowns - are what biologist say is the 'midnight' snack of choice among bears.
Blue Jay
12-26-2006, 08:06
Unless you do something very stupid and most of the time not even then, Black Bears are not dangerous at any time of year. There are thousands of things to worry about in this world, Black Bears are not one of them.
firemountain
12-26-2006, 09:09
For what it's worth, I am currently hiking the AT southbound (just entered central VA) and have yet to see a single bear. Have seen much other wildlife but no bear. I think with the cooler temps they are likely much less active this time of year.
bobgessner57
12-26-2006, 09:23
Firemountain:
I have seen bears and bear sign this time of year in the Mount Rogers area at the lower elevations such as the area around Fox Creek and Old Orchard shelter. Never had a problem with them. I have been told by rangers that they tend not to be at the higher, colder elevations.
One time on Dec. 26 I followed a bear up the trail from just above Fox Creek to the Old Orchard Shelter. It was snowing and I could tell by the tracks it was not far ahead. He actually tromped through the shelter leaving snowy footprints before my son and I got there but never came around that evening.
May run into you this week. I am packed to get out in the next few days just don't know where or when I am headed out.
kytrailman
12-26-2006, 09:23
Blue Jay- stupidity is not the only thing to promote a black bear attack. They do happen and there are the occasional old hungry angry black bear. You are right fo rthe most part about them being docile and easily spooked. I know in Ky and eastern Tenn. Most of the black bear are down for the majority of the winter. You will see them at times, but not alot until late-late march early april.
Lone Wolf
12-26-2006, 09:34
Black bears should be hibernating right now if they got enough fat on them during the year. Is a bear sighting in winter still possible or are the chances greatly reduced? Also if they are out there would they attack you more since they could be hungry?
You are 10 times more likely of being attacked , raped or murder by a human being. Plan accordingly. I think Smith & Wesson is having a Kwanza special this month.
Hibernating bears remain motionless throughout cold winter weather. Bears in Virginia, which are black bears, don’t hibernate. They enter dens and go into a torpor. Every two to three days they “reawaken” and exit the den to forage for food. Bears hibernate in areas where winter weather is more extreme, much lower temperatures with much less food available.
Unlike hibernating bears, bears in torpor can be reawakened quickly.
Bear visited us regularly until we religiously began storing bird food out of their reach. Our perpetual calendar indicates there is no time of the year when bear did not visit.
Bear spend much more of their time, in winter, sleeping than looking for food or mates, so you’ll see them less often.
Firemountain, I never saw bear when I went hiking until I began hiking with the intention to find them. When you hike more quietly, constantly looking about, paying particular attention to areas of darkness, and look UP into the trees, you’ll begin seeing them. On a thru-hike your goal is to cover a certain distance within a certain period of time. You’re likely to feel you need to “take time out” to develop your observational abilities. Most limit their focus to meet the challenge of finishing their hike.
Footslogger
12-26-2006, 15:51
[quote=Vi+;292169]Hibernating bears remain motionless throughout cold winter weather. Bears in Virginia, which are black bears, don’t hibernate. They enter dens and go into a torpor. Every two to three days they “reawaken” and exit the den to forage for food.
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I must be part bear. Sounds pretty much like my behavior in winter.
'Slogger
Living here in the TN/NC part of the trail, I have seen many bears and also see them quite often in the dead of winter. Of course it is usually during the warmer spells they get out and forrage for food but I dont see any need to worry about them. I agree that you have to look for them to see them when hiking as most are in areas that are heavily hunted so they dont readily show themselves unless you are quiet and learn to watch for them.
RAT
I posted Pennsylvania Game Commission's black bear links (http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/view.asp?a=473&q=150328) to another thread recently. Of particular relevence to this thread is the Wildlife Note.
Blue Jay
12-27-2006, 11:15
Blue Jay- stupidity is not the only thing to promote a black bear attack. They do happen and there are the occasional old hungry angry black bear.
If you mean by occasional, less of a chance than winning the lottery, as there are far more lottery winners each year than all of those attacked by black bears in a decade, than I'd say yes. If you mean by occasional, less of a chance than getting struck by lightening, as there are far more people who have been struck each year than those attacked by bears in a decade, than I'd say yes. Yes, a large bird could die in mid flight, land on you and kill you. That might occasionally happen. Finding an old black bear, who is also hungry, who is also angry requires you to not only be drunk, but also quiet enough to sneak up on it. It could happen, it could also rain lemonade.
Blue Jay
12-27-2006, 11:22
You are 10 times more likely of being attacked , raped or murder by a human being. Plan accordingly. I think Smith & Wesson is having a Kwanza special this month.
I'd say more like a few thousand times more likely. Figure at last a few hundred human attacks occur every day in this country. Some drunk knuklehead pisses off a bear, maybe once a year at the most.
You are 10 times more likely of being attacked , raped or murder by a human being. Plan accordingly. I think Smith & Wesson is having a Kwanza special this month.
Since Black Bears only kill about one person every other year I would say the odds of being killed by a person is much more than 10X.
Panzer
buckowens
01-02-2007, 09:38
I should be getting a piece of the action from the authors, but I loved this book...
Read "Among the Bears-Raising Orphan Cubs in the Wild" by Benjamin Kilham and Ed Gray. All of your bear questions and fears will be laid to rest.
Finding an old black bear, who is also hungry, who is also angry requires you to not only be drunk, but also quiet enough to sneak up on it. It could happen, it could also rain lemonade.
Classic! Simply classic! :D