"Black Bear Hunting Info. . .
. . . Food and Habitat"
Black bears require forests for
protection and food. They are amazingly adaptable to human presence,
and are able to survive in close proximity to housing developments
and suburban areas wherever cover to escape cover exists.
Bears are opportunists, and feed on a
wide range of vegetation and animal matter.
They eat a variety of
plant matter throughout the growing season, including early greening
grasses, clover, and the buds of hardwood trees in the spring,
fruits and berries in summer, and beechnuts, acorns, and hazelnuts
in the fall.
This diet is supplemented with insects, including ants
and bees (their larvae, adults, and honey), and occasional mammals
and birds.
Bears are not considered efficient predators, but they
are known to prey on young deer and moose in late spring, and will
consume carrion.
Bears are intelligent, and adapt rapidly to new
food sources, including agricultural crops and food placed to
attract other wildlife, such as bird feeders, and untended garbage.
Therefore, they occasionally cause problems for farmers, beekeepers
and orchardists, and rural residents in the State.
by Craig McLaughlin, Ph.D.
Wildlife Biologist
Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife
Continue: Black Bear Reproduction | 