Black bear extraordinaire

In its second-largest bear season ever, the Pennsylvania Game Commission reports a preliminary harvest of 3,436 black bears in 2008.

Surviving the season was the mammoth mammal whose tracks I encountered during a recent walk in Wayne County. The big bear, most likely a male, strolled at considerable length along a dirt lane covered with slush and snow. With a quick temperature drop, the prints were nicely preserved in ice.

Although black bears typically enter a light hibernation during winter’s coldest months, they can make occasional forays from their dens. Many cubs are born in dens during the month of January and emerge in March or April.

Most black bears sport fur that is glossy black with tan muzzles, but some are cinnamon, bluish-black or brown in color. Adults can range from 150 to 400 pounds, though large males over 600 pounds are not uncommon. Their diet usually consists of various berries, nuts, grubs and honeybee larvae, small vertebrates, carrion and, alas, garbage.