JANUARY 2001 V.65, N.1 

       Twenty years ago, seeing a bear in West Virginia was a lofty ambition a dream come true for a wildlife watcher. In 1980, Mountain State hunters killed only 47 bears. Tom Dotson, West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (DNR) district wildlife biologist for the state's southwestern counties, estimates that fewer than 500 black bear roamed the state back then.

       Today, however, the state's black bear population has grown to nearly 10,000. In 1999, the legal harvest dipped to 994 from a record 1,082 kills in 1998. Now the sight of a bear can be more a nightmare than a dream. As bears have gotten more abundant, they interact more frequently with people often with unfortunate results. Bears destroy beehives, bird feeders, and livestock, roam the highways, and even den under porches. Despite the potential for mischief, though, landowners filed only 93 bear damage claims in 1999.

       Just a few years ago, bears were considered restricted to the eastern mountainous areas of the state. But black bears have proven to be accomplished wanderers. Significant populations now occupy southern and southwestern West Virginia, and a major DNR study of these bears is under way. Bears also seem to show up in new places every year. I know of several reliable sightings in Marshall County over the past three years. I suspect it's just a matter of time until I spot one on my piece of heaven.

       Even though black bears can cause problems for people, I look forward to the day they roam my ridge, simply because they are such fascinating creatures. Though adults typically weigh 200 to 400 pounds, 600-pounders are possible, especially when food is abundant.

       The success of black bears in West Virginia can be attributed primarily to habitat quality. Oak-hickory forests that produce lots of nuts make big bears. Though commonly thought to be ferocious meat eaters, black bears are surprisingly omnivorous. In fact, they are more herbivore than carnivore. Forest mast (nuts, fruits, and berries), seeds, and roots make up as much as 75 percent of their menu. Carrion, chipmunks, mice, birds' eggs, fish, frogs, and insects make up the balance. Nuts, primarily acorns, are the key food. When mast production is high, bears can fatten up and easily get through even harsh winters. Poor mast years, however, can affect both winter survival and reproduction.

        Bear hunters rely on reports of fall mast crops to determine hunting strategy. When the nut crop is good, bears stay active longer, eat more, and den later, so the late fall gun season is usually more productive than the early fall bow season. When the mast crop is poor, bears scatter in search of food, eat less, and den earlier. During poor mast years, the early bow season is usually more successful than the later gun season.

       Though the bear's period of winter dormancy (bears are not true hibernators) seems a time of inactivity, it is then that sows activate their pregnancies. Black bears breed every other year in June or July, but after a few cell divisions, the fertilized eggs stop growing and do not implant on the uterine wall. When winter dormancy begins, the tiny embryos implant on the uterus and development resumes. Two or three tiny cubs about the size of guinea pigs (seven to 12 ounces) are born in January. The cubs nurse and grow for about eight weeks while the sow continues her winter's sleep. In March or April, they venture outside the den with the sow. Cubs wean in the fall. Some den the first winter with their mother; others den singly nearby. If they survive the winter, they're on their own.

       More fascinating than the black bear reproductive strategy of delayed implantation is the physiology of winter dormancy. During the winter months, while females are pregnant, bears do not eat, drink, defecate, or urinate. How they cope with the accumulation of internal toxic wastes has serious implications for human health; research continues to unlock these physiological secrets.

       Though bear metabolism drops 50 to 60 percent during dormancy and heart rate can drop to single digits per minute, body temperature drops minimally. In fact, brain and core body temperatures stay near normal. This is why bears are not considered true hibernators. They are easily aroused and react quickly to disturbances, such as intruders or potential predators. It is for this reason that bear biologists such as Dotson and Joe Rieffenberger, who led the state's bear research program for many years, use tranquilizer guns to study bears at their den sites.

       Though a bear den may conjure up images of a deep rocky cave, den sites include large hollow trees, a scrape under a brush pile, a shallow burrow, and the space beneath a hunting cabin porch. Some bears even sleep above ground in a thicket or in the open.

      Black bears are magnificent and powerful creatures. Respect them. We may "own" the woods, but bears rule them. Reduce the chance of conflict by using common sense to avoid close encounters of the bear kind.