320 



NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA 



[No. 55 



The Forest Service reports of large game animals on the national 

 forests of Oregon give the total number of black bears estimated as 

 6,272 for the year 1930; 6,457 for 1931; 6,143 for 1932; and 6,240 for 

 1933. This would naturally include the greater part of the bears of 

 the State, although in western Oregon there is much good bear 

 country outside the national forests. 



General habits. Black bears are especially forest animals, enjoy- 

 ing shade and cover and many of the fruits and other foods found in 

 the woods. They are timid animals, and the mere presence of trees 

 that can be quickly climbed in the absence of no other means of escape 

 from their few but powerful enemies, probably gives them confi- 

 dence, especially so with young bears, which are quick to take to trees 

 if danger threatens or the mother gives the climb-a-tree-quick signal. 

 After a long and busy night searching for the large quantity of food 



required to satisfy their 

 appetites they like to find 

 some densethicket, swamp, 

 or wooded canyon where 

 they can sleep without dan- 

 ger of disturbance through 

 the day or until hunger 

 urges them to continue the 

 food search. They also 

 love the water and in hot 

 weather swim and wallow 

 in it for sheer enjoyment. 

 They do not hesitate to 

 swim across rivers or 

 lakes and in places find 

 much of their food along 

 the shores or in the water. 

 They are endowed with 

 great strength and endurance but are not swift runners compared 

 with a dog or horse, or even a grizzly bear. They are usually not 

 dangerous to people unless wounded or cornered, but an old bear 

 with cubs will sometimes fight to protect her young. 



Breeding habits. The black bear usually has two young, born in 

 January or February while the mother is in her winter den. The 

 young, small and helpless when born, are nursed in the den through 

 the winter and spring, when the mother brings them out, and then 

 far into the summer. By the middle of June they are about the size 

 of a raccoon, and by fall are very competent little bears, though 

 still accompanying the mother. 



J. T. Jardine, of the Forest Service, wrote to the Biological Sur- 

 vey an account of the killing of a large black bear by J. K. Casper, 

 near Promise, in Wallowa County, Oreg., and the capture of her 2 

 small cubs, 1 black and 1 brown, sometime in January 1909. The 

 young, thought to be only a few hours old, measured 7 inches in 

 total length. 



Economic status. Opinions in Oregon differ widely as to whether 

 black bears are valuable game and fur-bearing animals to be pre- 

 served, or destructive predatory animals to be destroyed. Both opin- 

 ions seem to be well supported under different conditions and in 



FIGURE 79. Range of black bears in Oregon : 1, 

 Euarctos amcricanus altifrontaUs; 2, E. a. 

 cianamomum. 



