Native Foods -vs- Agriculture Foods
January 2011 - There was an abrupt and obvious change in their eating habits in early December, as they dramatically shifted from natural agriculture food stuffs (corn, sweet potatoes, apples, etc) to their wild foods most commonly consumed before going to den.
A lot of hunters noticed the shift in eating habits were far more pronounced this fall and had questions about the causes. We posed our observations to NCWRC Bear Biologist Colleen Olfenbuttel. We told her that numerous hunters had definitively observed the following behaviors this hunting season: By late November / early December 80% of the bear quit feeding at the bait stations. Based solely on scat, we can clearly see they stop eat our Ag foods and begin eating a black pulpy berries and an assortment of seeds about the size of grape seeds. By late December, it appears that they even added a long grass to their diet. Last there are a few large bears who defied the rules and they continue eating Ag feeds as if they aren't concerned for weather or time of year. I would class most of these bears as solid trophy sized bears.
Colleen provided the following answers. "The reason hunters are seeing bears ignore their bait / feed stations is that bears will usually choose natural foods, if available, over human-provided foods, such as corn, sweet potatoes and apples. During good mast years in the mountains, bears will ignore bait/feed stations of corn, apples, etc., and focus on consuming hard and soft mast. I have seen pictures of bears walking right by bait/feed stations; the bears are there, just not interested. The reason for this is that natural foods provide the nutrition that the bears need vs. most human-provided foods. Human-provided foods are often high in starches/carbs and have little nutritional value. It may bulk them up when consumed in vast quantities, but there is little in nutritional content. Just imagine if a person only ate corn and potatoes. And as with people, bear size does not necessarily indicate good health. The nutrition provided by natural foods, such as berries, seeds, acorns, etc.,cannot be easily replicated in human-provided foods, at least not the types often put out as bait/feed."
"When I was in Virginia," Colleen said, "we had captive black bears on an annual basis at our facility. These were often female bears that had been a nuisance in the wild during the summer. I would gradually reduce the amount of food given to the bears; this was to mimic natural food conditions they would experience in the wild. Protocol dictated that feeding cease at the end of December, to assure the bears would be induced to hibernate. However, usually by mid-December the bears would stop eating, even though we were still providing food. They would build their nest, limit their movements, become lethargic, and stop defecating. I rarely had to feed through December, because the bears had stopped eating on their own. While our understanding is still limited, we believe that while food, and possibly colder temperatures, induced the physiological changes that occur in bears (lower heart rate, lower body temperature, recycling of waste, etc?), that these physiological changes, in turn, caused them to completely lose their appetite and stop eating. This makes sense, since it would be a disadvantage for a bear to be hungry during a period of the year when food supplies are typically scarce.However, over the past 20-30 years changes have occurred across the eastern U.S.; there are now foods available during the winter (year-round crop production, feed stations, bird feeders, garbage, etc). Hibernation is an adaptation to survive a period of time when food is scarce. But in some areas, food is not scarce and bears are responding by not hibernating."
"In Northampton, Massachusetts, despite average winter temperatures in the teens, we had a few bears, both male and female, that did not hibernate; they had keyed into a neighborhood that was providing year-round sunflower seeds. I found it amazing that 1000s of years of adaptation to hibernate were being reversed. These bears ate, defecated and were active, which indicated they had not gone through the typical physiological changes. Food overrode winter temperatures and overrode hibernation."
"The same phenomenon is occurring in North Carolina. Typical factors that induce hibernation (cold temperatures, food scarcity) do not always occur in the coast and it is common for coastal bears not to hibernate. Over the last 10-20 years, we are frequently observing delayed hibernation or no hibernation occurring in our mountain bears, usually in males and females with yearlings. In the coast and mountain, female bears expected to have cubs still hibernate, though coastal females are not as lethargic during winter."
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PreMolar Tooth Collection
The NCBHA is asking all hunters to resume collecting teeth from bear that they harvest.
Instructions for Pulling Bear Teeth
Please submit both first premolars from the upper jaw (see drawing).
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The tooth we need is the very small tooth immediately behind the upper canine tooth (see drawing).
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Use a screwdriver, ice pick, or knife blade to push the gum down and away from the tooth.
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Pull the tooth out with pliers or pry it out using the canine as a lever.
- Put the tooth in the envelope, then seal it. Fill in the data sheet and include your address if you want us to send the age of the bear to you. At the end of the season, contact wildlife personnel to make arrangements for all data to be collected.
- Do not break the tooth off at the gumline, its is important that the whole tooth is removed and sent in.
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