Spring bear

[peternap]

The bears are back

[MountainDon]

Big one!! 

[John Raabe]

Too Cool!

A great picture - worth several thousand words. Is he hungry?

[Sassy]

He looks like he's checking you out, Peter!   

[peternap]

He looks like he's checking you out, Peter!   

Naw....he's just looking for the 45 LONG colt

[considerations]

Do you ever see a "black bear" that isn't black?  I know they come in colors from cream to black.  Here on the Olympic Peninsula, the only color phase is black.  I've seen pictures in  National Geographic of some that are cinnamon, some that are all "white" (cream I think).  Just wondered if there are any like that where you are?

[MountainDon]

The Black Bear is New Mexico's state animal. Here they come in black, brown and cinnamon, though most of the ones I see are brown. I've been told there are some blondes about too.

[Windpower]

I saw a blond one in Saskatchwan

[Sassy]

The bear Glenn had to shoot was cinnamon - it was breaking into people's barns, houses, chicken coops - killed a bunch of our chickens, ducks & all our guinea hens.  Was just down the hill in the daytime while Glenn & his son were fixing the chicken coop & the bear was growling at them.  Not safe!  Our neighbor had to shoot a bear that was on their porch...  don't know what color it was.  I guess we have black bears here...

[MountainDon]

The American Black Bear (Ursus americanus) lives in 40 of the 50 states, all Canadian provinces except PEI and parts of north Mexico. Our black bear evolved in North America whereas the brown bear is Eurasian. They are generally blacker in the east and browner in the west. Back home if we went east into Northern Ontario they tended to be black, while if we went west they were almost always brown.

So most of us have more than likely seen the American Black Bear when we've seen bears in the wild.

The brown bear family includes the Grizzly (Ursus arctos horribilis; I like that name, it seems an accurate description) today lives mainly from Alaska, south through much of western Canada, and into Idaho, Montana, Washington and Wyoming, including Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. There have been reported sightings in Colorado's southern San Juan Mountains. In the early 1800's they were still found in all the western states, including OK and most of TX, plus Mexico.

[lonelytree]

Where I am building, if it is brown it is down.... blackies included. They are decimating the caribou and moose.