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Black Bear (Ursus americanus)
Mammals Around Las Vegas, Wildlife Around Las Vegas
Black Bear (Ursus americanus)
Black Bears: some actually are black

General Information: Black Bears (Ursus americanus) are the smallest North American bear with a head and body length of 5-6 feet and a height of 2-3 feet at the shoulder. Called black bears, these bears range in color from nearly white to red to jet black. The face is narrow, and they do not have a hump on the back between the shoulders.

Taxonomy: Order: Carnivora; Family: Ursidae.

Black Bear (Ursus americanus)
Black Bear female nursing cub

Technical Description: Head and body to 6-ft long, height 3 ft at the shoulder, weight to 500 pounds. Color ranges from white to black, usually with a white spot on the chest. Face narrow. Front claws less than 2-inches, curved.

Breeding: Breeds during summer, young born mid-winter

Diet: Eats vegetation, bugs, mice, fish, deer, and anything else it can find or catch (for example, backpacker's food).

Black Bear (Ursus americanus)
Black Bear scat

Range: Black Bears occur throughout northern North America, and southward in the major mountain ranges (Cascade-Sierra Nevada, Rocky Mountains into Mexico, Appalachian Mountains); also in Florida and lower Mississippi River area.

Comments: Bear scat happens in a variety of forms, but most often it is firm and broken into several elongate pieces. Bear scat can also look very much like human scat, although it can also look like a soft cow patty (bears eat a lot of grass).

bear canister
Backpacking "bear canisters"

Campers and backpackers in "bear country" must safeguard their food from hungry bears. In some campgrounds, land managers provide food storage lockers that are big enough to hold several ice chests and boxes of food. For backpackers, "bear canisters" provide lightweight protection for food. Here, I put three bear canisters together, then put my pots on top. If a bear knocked over the pots, they would wake me up, and I could chase off the bear.

Bear canisters are useful even when not hiking in bear country. Common Ravens, desert woodrats, deer mice, ground squirrels, and other creatures like backpacker food, so it is a good idea to protect it from all of them.

Black Bear (Ursus americanus)
Bear trap (culvert trap) in Yosemite National Park, California
Bears are always hungry. They are smart, resourceful, and good parents, and when they find easy food, they take all they can and teach their cubs. Easy food includes improperly stored human food and trash. If bears learn that humans are food sources, they become bold and can cause a lot of damage. As such, so called "problem bears" often are captured in bear traps and relocated to far away areas. Although this might seem like a fairly simple solution, the bears usually try to come home or die trying. Given that they die far from human eyes, we don't see it, and therefore we don't know and don't care. For people concerned about bears, properly storing food is the only way to keep them alive.
Black Bear (Ursus americanus)
Some Black Bears are dark
Black Bear (Ursus americanus)
Some Black Bears are light
Black Bear (Ursus americanus) Black Bear (Ursus americanus)
Black Bear (Ursus americanus)
Black Bears foraging on herbs
Black Bear (Ursus americanus)
Black Bears foraging on herbs
Black Bear (Ursus americanus)
Bear cub in a tree eating dogwood flowers
Black Bear (Ursus americanus)
Bear cub in a tree eating dogwood flowers
Black Bear (Ursus americanus)
Mother bear and cub
Black Bear (Ursus americanus)
Young bear cub
Black Bear (Ursus americanus)
Mother bear and cub nursing
Black Bear (Ursus americanus)
Mother bear and small cub
Black Bear (Ursus americanus)
A large bear approaches me ...
Black Bear (Ursus americanus)
... then inspects the bench where I was sitting
Black Bear (Ursus americanus) Black Bear (Ursus americanus)
Black Bear (Ursus americanus)
Problem bears in a campsite
Black Bear (Ursus americanus)
Problem bears in a campsite
Black Bear (Ursus americanus)
Problem bears in a campsite
Black Bear (Ursus americanus)
Loud noise scares problem bears out of the campsite
Black Bear (Ursus americanus)
Mother bear stops to assess the situation
Black Bear (Ursus americanus)
One cub thinks about climbing a tree
Black Bear (Ursus americanus)
The second cub climbs a few feet up a tree
Black Bear (Ursus americanus)
Mother bear considers heading for the hills
Black Bear (Ursus americanus)
Instead, momma bear turns and does a bluff charge to scare me away
Black Bear (Ursus americanus)
Momma bear stops her charge when I don't move
Black Bear (Ursus americanus)
Proof: bears really do "do it" in the woods!
Black Bear (Ursus americanus)
Bear scat, typical in several segments
Black Bear (Ursus americanus)
Bear scat, typical squishy
Black Bear (Ursus americanus)
Bear scat, unusual one long piece
Black Bear (Ursus americanus) Black Bear (Ursus americanus)
Note: All distances, elevations, and other facts are approximate.
copyright; Last updated 240302
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