Bears seem to loom large in the minds of many of our visitors; we answer lots of questions about how many bears have you seen' and 'were you scared?'
This year for whatever reason, other guides and I have seen more bears and signs of their presence than in many previous years. Tracks and scat are clear signs, of course, and we often see them because bears like to use open trails, whether made by other game or humans. More subtle signs are logs and large stones overturned while the bear was foraging. A different kind of track appears in stands of aspen. See previous blog post, Aspen Messages.
New Mexico has Black Bears (Ursus americanus) in colors ranging from black through brown to various shades of red. Here, an average male weighs 200-500 pounds, with fully grown females around 150-300 pounds. This is America's smallest bear yet still a fast and formidable animal when threatened.
But despite their size and their position near the top of the food chain, they are seldom seen.
This year for whatever reason, other guides and I have seen more bears and signs of their presence than in many previous years. Tracks and scat are clear signs, of course, and we often see them because bears like to use open trails, whether made by other game or humans. More subtle signs are logs and large stones overturned while the bear was foraging. A different kind of track appears in stands of aspen. See previous blog post, Aspen Messages.
New Mexico has Black Bears (Ursus americanus) in colors ranging from black through brown to various shades of red. Here, an average male weighs 200-500 pounds, with fully grown females around 150-300 pounds. This is America's smallest bear yet still a fast and formidable animal when threatened.
But despite their size and their position near the top of the food chain, they are seldom seen.
Hind feet often swing in front of their forefeet. Except during a mating season in the early summer, they are solitary animals with large territories as adults. Five to seven square miles is the estimated territory area for females although males can range 25 square miles or larger depending on food availability. Movement of both males and females increases as the bears begin pre-hibernation feeding, August through October. Rather than strongly defending a territory, they practice "mutual avoidence" meaning that individual territories may overlap and they simply stay out of each other's way. It can be difficult to actually estimate population size in an area; a study ongoing through the University of New Mexico now is using "hair traps" to collect tufts of fur, then differentiating individuals by DNA markers. The last comprehensive population study in 2001 (pre-DNA) estimated between 5000-6000 bears spread over 14.6 million acres in New Mexico.
Cubs are borne in our area about every other year and stay with the mother for two years before being encouraged to leave. The success of breeding is tied to the females' fat reserves from the previous year, based on "mast" availability: the starchy foods like acorns and juniper berries that comprise a large percentage of bears' fall diet. Bears are perfect omnivores: they eat many different kinds of foods. Early season grasses and roots are consumed in quantity. Vegetation of some type probably makes up about 85% of a bear's diet. Insects, too, play a significant role--grubs, hornets, and yes, bees and their honey. But when the opportunity arises, adult bears are happy to eat meat, usually carrion. During the elk calving season, mortality of calves and even the elk cows is largely due to predators--coyotes and mountain lions--but bears do factor in. I've personally seen male bears doggedly trailing lone elk cows heavy with their pregnancies.
Compared with elsewhere in the country, few of our bears are habituated to human presence. There are relatively few "garbage bears", feeding is against the law, and there is a good bit of less-inhabited territory for bears to occupy rather than subdivisions. The exception is during poor food years when sub-adult females (low on the territorial totem pole) are crowded to the edges of territories and may find themselves in backyard apple trees.
The upshot is that our bears are pretty wild and would prefer to be elsewhere should a meeting with a human occur. Black bears have rather poor eyesight but an excellent sense of smell. If one is encountered on trail which seems inclined to approach you, don't run! Stand tall, talk, make yourself look larger and be noticed, but don't look directly at the bear. Move off or back away slowly while still watching the bear. A bear which stands on its hind legs is not charging, but usually trying to get a better look (or smell). The most dangerous confrontation would involve a mother defending cubs, so it's best to be cautious. If you see cubs, carefully put some distance between you (even off-trail), so you're less likely to be in between mom and a cub.
Along with the bears, we guides are happy this year to see lots of acorns crowding the branches of scrub oaks, junipers heavy with berries, and other wonderful foods for bears out in the wilds. After a couple of harder, drier seasons, the bears should have an easier time of it this year.
For more information, see the pamphlet from our Department of Game & Fish http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/publications/documents/blackbears.pdf
Cubs are borne in our area about every other year and stay with the mother for two years before being encouraged to leave. The success of breeding is tied to the females' fat reserves from the previous year, based on "mast" availability: the starchy foods like acorns and juniper berries that comprise a large percentage of bears' fall diet. Bears are perfect omnivores: they eat many different kinds of foods. Early season grasses and roots are consumed in quantity. Vegetation of some type probably makes up about 85% of a bear's diet. Insects, too, play a significant role--grubs, hornets, and yes, bees and their honey. But when the opportunity arises, adult bears are happy to eat meat, usually carrion. During the elk calving season, mortality of calves and even the elk cows is largely due to predators--coyotes and mountain lions--but bears do factor in. I've personally seen male bears doggedly trailing lone elk cows heavy with their pregnancies.
Compared with elsewhere in the country, few of our bears are habituated to human presence. There are relatively few "garbage bears", feeding is against the law, and there is a good bit of less-inhabited territory for bears to occupy rather than subdivisions. The exception is during poor food years when sub-adult females (low on the territorial totem pole) are crowded to the edges of territories and may find themselves in backyard apple trees.
The upshot is that our bears are pretty wild and would prefer to be elsewhere should a meeting with a human occur. Black bears have rather poor eyesight but an excellent sense of smell. If one is encountered on trail which seems inclined to approach you, don't run! Stand tall, talk, make yourself look larger and be noticed, but don't look directly at the bear. Move off or back away slowly while still watching the bear. A bear which stands on its hind legs is not charging, but usually trying to get a better look (or smell). The most dangerous confrontation would involve a mother defending cubs, so it's best to be cautious. If you see cubs, carefully put some distance between you (even off-trail), so you're less likely to be in between mom and a cub.
Along with the bears, we guides are happy this year to see lots of acorns crowding the branches of scrub oaks, junipers heavy with berries, and other wonderful foods for bears out in the wilds. After a couple of harder, drier seasons, the bears should have an easier time of it this year.
For more information, see the pamphlet from our Department of Game & Fish http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/publications/documents/blackbears.pdf
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