The bears are awake! Black bears have come out of hibernation and people are spotting them around the state, including multiple sightings in the Twin Cities and a yearling cub who’s been getting into trash and bird feeders in Grand Marais.
But so far, no bears spotted at Bearskin.
They’re sure to be around sooner or later this summer, though, so if you’re headed up to the Gunflint Trail, you might get lucky and see one – or a whole family!
Black bears in Minnesota
There are only three species of bears in the US: polar bears, grizzly bears, and black bears. Black bears are the most widespread, and – luckily for those of us who share space with them – the least dangerous.
Black bears used to live in almost every forested part of the US, but these days they mostly stick to less populated areas, like here in the northwoods. However, the bear population in Minnesota (currently estimated at 13,000 to 18,000 bears) is slowly growing, especially at the outskirts of bear territory – hence the increase in Twin Cities sightings.
In our neck of the woods, bears are common, and guests often see them strolling peacefully across East Bearskin Road. They tend to shy away from humans, but now and then they’ll get a little bold if they think they can eat some tasty garbage or take a lick of a grill.
What do black bears look like?
The obvious answer to that question is that they’re black, but that’s not always true! Black bears have other possible color phases (natural genetic variations). In the eastern US, bears are almost all black, while in the west, as many as 30% are different colors, including brown, gray, blonde, or even white. Here in Minnesota, 93% of black bears are black. The others are usually shades of brown referred to as chocolate or cinnamon.
Adult black bears in Minnesota range from around 150 to 500 pounds and are 5 or 6 feet tall when standing upright.
What do black bears eat?
Black bears are omnivores. About 70-85% of their diet is plant-based, but they also eat insects, carrion, and the occasional small mammal. Their diet changes with the seasons – when they first emerge from hibernation in April, they typically head for the wetlands to find the few plants that are already growing in the snowy landscape. Skunk cabbage, which generates heat to melt the snow around it, is a favorite.
As summer progresses, they start to eat more ants and other insects, and in late summer, they love berries. Then comes the autumn, when bears start preparing to hibernate. During this period, they have to eat A LOT of food. They go from consuming a few thousand calories daily to taking in 15,000+.
The reproductive cycle
Bears mate between May and July. During this season, male bears wander the woods looking for females who aren’t currently raising cubs. They try to mate with multiple females, and the females will mate with multiple males. Because cubs stay with their mom for over a year, the females only mate every other year, after they’ve chased last year’s cubs off.
Although mating takes place in spring and summer, the embryos don’t actually implant until November, when she’s already hibernating, and the cubs are born in January. Most of the time, each bear has two or three cubs, but it’s possible for them to birth as many as six.
Black bear hibernation
Black bears spend the winter in dens, which can be brush piles, excavated burrows under tree roots, hollow trees, or simple ground nests made of leaves and twigs.
There are a lot of misconceptions about bears in hibernation. Some hibernating animals enter a coma-like state in winter, with their body temperatures dropping almost to freezing and their hearts beating very slowly. But not black bears. They go into torpor, a lighter state of dormancy. Their metabolisms slow down, they sleep a lot, and they don’t need to eat, but they can wake up quickly in case of a threat or to care for their cubs.
They start to come out of hibernation in March, but they’re not ready to leave their dens until early April when the cubs are old enough to climb trees.
Bear trouble
Running into a bear is both exciting and scary. Black bear attacks on humans are very rare, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be cautious if you see one, especially if there are cubs around. If possible, watch from a safe distance until the bear is gone or alter your path to avoid it. If you accidentally find yourself close to a bear, don’t run or startle it. Talk calmly to it so it knows you’re there. If a bear comes toward you, yell, make noise, and throw something at it. Black bears are generally afraid of humans and will run away from you.
The most common victims of bear attacks are bird feeders and trash cans. Bearskin guests enjoy the bird feeders we hang on all the cabins in the winter and often ask why we remove them in the Spring – it’s because birdseed is a delicious bear snack! A bird feeder can contain something like 5,000 calories. A bear would have to eat 20-25 pounds of berries to achieve the same amount of energy.
Trouble-making bears are often yearlings, last year’s cubs that are on their own for the first time. They don’t know what they’re doing yet and are looking for the easiest food source, like a dumpster.
Bears at Bearskin
This is a great time to see black bears and bear cubs on the Gunflint Trail. Let us know if you see a bear at Bearskin!
