American Black Bear (Ursus americanus)

Male black bears usually weigh 250 - 500 pounds when fully grown, although some grow to 600 pounds or more. The adult females, being smaller, weigh 110 - 450 pounds.

Black bears measure up to 6 tall feet when standing on their hind legs. When a bear's on all fours, the height to the shoulder is approximately 3 to 3.5 feet.

Not all black bears have black fur. The color of their fur can also be brown, cinnamon, blonde, or even white.

The American black bear is found in diverse habitats, including forests, swampland, and scrubland.

The black bear prefers habitat that is relatively inaccessible by humans. Ideally, this habitat will have a thick understory and a good supply of mast (acorns, beechnuts, hickory nuts, etc.) and fruit-bearing trees or shrubs.

The male black bear is reported to require from 5 to 200 square miles for its home range. The female requires much less - from 1 to about 20 square miles.

The size of the territory needed depends somewhat upon the age of the bear, the habitat of the territory, and the food supply in that area. The better the quality of the habitat, the smaller the home range needs to be.

The female black bear breeds every other year. She gives birth to 1-5 cubs during January or February. The typical litter is 2 or 3 cubs. Black bear cubs are blind at birth and only weigh from 7-14 ounces.

The young stay with their mother during the first summer and den with her the next winter. During the second summer, the mother drives them off to find their own territory, leaving her available to breed again.

Black bears are solitary, other than during the breeding season or when females are with their young cubs.

The black bear has an extremely keen sense of smell and hearing. Their sight is only adequate.

They will readily climb a tree and are good swimmers. They can move at a rapid pace - up to 30 mph - and tend to cover a lot of territory in a 24-hour period.

Black bears have extraordinary navigational abilities. They have been known to find their way back to their home range after being transported as far as 168 away.

This ability to find places previously visited helps them return to food sources and waterholes that may be available only on a seasonal basis.

Fortunately, black bears are not as aggressive as grizzly bears. However, black bear attacks are not unheard of. In most of these instances, the bear involved has become accustomed to being around people and therefore has lost its fear of humans.

American black bears are omnivorous, which means their diet consists of both plants and animals, though they show a preference for plant matter.

In the spring, they eat more grassy materials. In the summer and fall they tend to feed more on fruits and mast (acorns, beechnuts, etc).

The black bear in this photo is about to eat some berries near the stream. Yum.

The diet of the black bear includes: berries of all kinds, grapes and other fruit, grasses, forbs, honey, insects and their larvae, small mammals such as rodents, fish, carrion, and mast (acorns, beechnuts, hickory, etc.).

Only a small portion the black bear's diet is animal matter. The exception would be black bears that live near rivers where they can catch salmon and other fish.

Black bears do not vocalize very much.

When frightened, they may make huffing sounds or clank their teeth. In some situations, black bears make a moaning sound when they are afraid.

Female black bears will communicate with their cubs with grunts and the cubs will bawl loudly when in distress. Cubs make what is described as a purring type of sound while they are nursing.

The black bear also communicates using body signals. When a bear feels threatened, it will flatten its ears and sometimes lower its head. If you see this behavior, it's a sign for you to back off.

If the threat does not go away, the black bear will often "bluff charge," which means it runs or lunges toward the threat, but stops short of attacking. The lunge can be accompanied by a slap on the ground.

People often think that a black bear standing upright is in a threatening posture. But, most of the time, the bear is just trying to get a better look around.

American black bears have five toes on each foot, with the biggest toe being on the outside (in contrast to the location of a human's big toe).

The position of the big toe is what gives the black bear its shuffling gait, with the tracks turning slightly inward.

The track of the front foot of an adult black bear is about 3.25 - 5.5 inches in width and 5 - 6.5 inches in length. If the heel of the front foot registers in the soil, then this can add 3 - 4 inches to the length.

The hind track is the same width as the front track, but the length is approximately 6 - 7.75 inches.