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Black Bears: Natural Science

Black Bears

What are Black Bears?

 

Black bears are North America's most familiar and common bears. They typically live in forests and are excellent tree climbers, but are also found in mountains and swamps. Despite their name, black bears can be blue-gray or blue-black, brown, cinnamon, or even (very rarely) white.

Black bears are very opportunistic eaters. Most of their diet consists of grasses, roots, berries, and insects. They will also eat fish and mammals—including carrion—and easily develop a taste for human foods and garbage. Bears who become habituated to human food at campsites, cabins, or rural homes can become dangerous and are often killed—thus the frequent reminder: Please don't feed the bears! Continue reading from National Geographic

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From the Collection

Link to A Field Guide to Mammals of North America by Fiona Reid in the Catalog
Link to National Geographic Pocket Guide to the Mammals of North America by Catherine Herbert Howell in the Catalog
Link to Hibernation by Tori Kosara in the Catalog
Link to Winter World: The Ingenuity of Animal Survival by Bernd Heinrich in the Catalog
Link to Backyard Bear by Anne Rockwell in the Catalog