Identifying the American Black Bear – Country Living Tips
Identifying the American Black Bear – Country Living Tips
The American black bear is one of the more intimidating animals that you might encounter in the wild. Country living often means sharing a territory with these beautiful animals and doing so safely is not generally a problem. If you are aware of your surroundings and know some basic principles of bear safety, you can easily steer clear of them. The most important principle of black bear safety is being able to recognize and identify them.
The American black bear is a large animal that is only rarely confused with anything else. The brown bear (grizzly) does share some locations with the black bear and can be mixed up occasion, but generally a black bear is not going to be confused with anything else.
Black bears are not always black. In fact, many are dark brown, light brown, red-brown or even nearly white in some areas. This variance in color is often a cause for mix-up with the much larger grizzly. Grizzly bears are noted for a large hump behind the shoulders where black bears appear to be flat. Also, the black bear has taller ears and darker claws. Other differences are present as well.
The black bear is a very large mammal that grows as large as six feet and can weigh in excess of 600 pounds. Despite their massive size, they are generally docile and shy and would much rather avoid you altogether. There are occasions where black bears attack people, but it is almost always a mistake or the result of the bear feeling threatened. Black bear attacks are extremely rare.
Black bears are considered omnivores and eat everything from berries to fish to small mammals.
Once found all over the United States, black bears are missing in some of the Northwestern areas of the country. Still, black bears are thriving in the deeply wooded areas of America. Unfortunately, those areas are shrinking and bringing people and bears into more contact with one another.
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