Photos by Susan C. Morse©
By the end of April, black bears have shrugged off winter’s dormancy and are getting hungry. They may get lucky and discover a winter-killed deer and get to indulge in its valuable protein. More often, however, they glean tiny foodstuffs, breaking willow branches and climbing aspens to reach the catkins, or even slurping from a pond’s surface to eat concentrations of minute springtails. In sunny openings where things are greening up, the tender new leaves and stems of succulent vegetation are voraciously grazed by eager bruins.
During spring’s early weeks, the flush of new grasses and sedges makes up the bulk of the herbage that bears consume. Later on, these plants become less digestable and their nutrient values decline as they “harden” with increasing amounts of lignin and cellulose. Photo by Susan C. Morse©
Forbs are next on the menu. In our region, the flowers, stems, and leaves of nearly two dozen wetland, meadow, and forest plants may be plucked by a bear’s prehensile lips, or delicately snipped by their incisor teeth. This sign reminds us of grazing livestock or the nipped-looking evidence we associate with the selective feeding habits of whitetail deer. Bears seek out palatable clover plants that are extra nutritious because they provide high amounts of protein, calcium, and phosphorus. Photo by Susan C. Morse©
A bear ate these and hundreds of other nearby dandelion flowers. Bears eat prodigious quantities of flowers throughout spring and early summer, including hawkweed, yellow goatsbeard, twisted stalk, golden saxifrage, sweet cicely, wild calla, pickerelweed, skunk cabbage, jack-in-the-pulpit, swamp thistle, blue violets, jewelweed, and the invasive non-native coltsfoot we increasingly find along roadsides. Photo by Susan C. Morse©
Springtime bear feces are green when fresh; over time they will turn blackishgreen or even solid black. Poke one with a stick to reveal its still bright-green interior and recognizable vegetative contents. Photo by Susan C. Morse©
Look for bear tracks, grazed vegetation, daybeds, and scats in wetland habitats including riparian zones, beaver flowages, seeps, and even around small vernal pools. Saturated soils support a greater abundance and diversity of the graminoids and forbs that bears relish at this time of year. Plan to investigate these habitats after the end of June, when female bears with their young cubs are safely dispersed throughout the forest and are less vulnerable to being disturbed and frightened. Photo by Susan C. Morse©