Pennsylvania Black Bear Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Pennsylvania Black Bear - Research Paper Example Those with black color are prevalent in the east while the brown phases from blond to cinnamon are mainly found in the west (Shoemakera 15).An adult male bear weighs between 350 and 500 pounds while a female may have 150 to 250 pounds even though, some male bears go up to 600 pounds occasionally. Black bears rise to about three feet high when standing on all fours and from six to seven feet when upright. The sounds made by bears are distinctive ranging from growls, woofing and jaw popping. The females communicate with their cub through huffs and low grunts while the cubs whimper, chuckle and bawl. Other distinctive features of a black bear are the tracks. The footprints of the hind legs resemble those of man and the toes are five. The front foot of a bear is shorter than the rear foot which is long and narrow. The claws may at times be visible. Black bears are herbivores. They maintain movement mainly at night or early hours of the morning in search of food. They feed on a variety of things such as berries, corn, beechnuts, grass, carrion, honey and insects (Fergus 32). They fatten up before winter for hibernation at the summer and the fall periods during which they take most of the time to feed amount to a close of twenty hours a day and consuming close to 20,000 calories. During winter, they remain dormant and choose to remain in their dens which are made up of rock caverns, excavated holes and hollow trees, underneath trees, dead falls and bushy thickets. The heartbeat during hibernation slows down tremendously and the body temperature drops. At this period, bears do not feed drink or pass body fluids such as urine (Gordon 45). The most prevalent season for mating is between early June and mid- July during which bears become very aggressive to one another. In January, sows give birth mostly to a litter of five. The newly born cubs are toothless, sightless and have less hair that is inadequately distributed on