MAMMALS OF YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK 



85 



eaters), vegetable matter forms a large 

 portion of the diet of bears. After first 

 emerging from hibernation, adult bears 

 eat sparingly, seemingly preferring grass 

 and other herbage for a two or three 

 weeks' period. As the season progresses, 

 their appetites increase, and the diet 

 changes. In Yosemite the food includes 

 "almost anything": Insects, berries, ap- 

 ples, pine nuts, acorns, grass, roots, fish, 

 rodents, carrion, and garbage. In addition 

 to the above, they show a decided liking 

 for most types of food used by humans, 

 as is attested by their raids on campers' 

 food supplies. 



Several cases are known in Yosemite 

 of bears stumbling onto fawns hidden in 

 the tall grass of our meadows, which 

 then, due to their inability to run, fall 

 ready victims. Such instances are rare. 

 New-born fawns are the largest animals 

 killed and eaten by bears in Yosemite. 



Although essentially nocturnal by na- 

 ture, some of the bears in Yosemite are 

 active throughout the day. During the 

 warmer parts of the day, the majority 



from cast by AI. V. HouJ 



Sierra black bear tracks. Front foot, left, hind 

 foot, right. Six-inch pencil 



will bed down in some secluded spot from 

 which they can quietly slip away if dis- 

 turbed. 



They are good tree climbers, and climb 

 both large and small trees apparently 

 with equal ease, the main requirement 

 being a tree of sufficient size to support 

 the bear's weight, even though it "tee- 

 ters." 



Bears habitually follow a given route, 

 stepping each time in the footsteps pre- 

 viously made. Trails have been found in 



Bear den in oak tree. 



Museum of Vertebrate Zoology 



