Growing up in Nova Scotia I can not remember a time when we didn’t see bears. Cute, cuddly looking cubs crossing the road with their mom, a hungry (I just woke up and need food) bear rummaging in a garbage can or compost heap, and even 1 or 2 looking for fish in our backyard waterpark.

I have come pretty close to a number of black bears and have never been afraid. Most of the time I am in awe! They are beautiful and on a sunny morning after a heavy rain their fur looks so fluffy and soft and snuggly I really just want to reach out and give them a big hug!

Do I, um, NO! They are wild animals and deserve to be left alone to do their thing, live their lives and be happy!

I do like to take pictures but always keep my distance. All the pictures posted here were taken with a zoom lens and I never get close enough to agitate or disturb the bears!

Below, I will share some facts and stories about Nova Scotia black bears to hopefully help you see these amazing creatures as I do and help us all live in harmony with them.

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Black Bear Facts

Before listing some fun and interesting facts about black bears, I would like to point out that black bears are not like grizzlies. Grizzlies will attack and kill humans, black bears don’t! They will only attack if cornered or to protect their young.

Black bears are gentle, timid, and protective. They live pretty much solitary lives (although the females are great moms and look after their young for up to three years) and want to be left alone.

They are curious and playful and so amazing to watch. I feel lucky to live where I can observe them in their natural habitat, listen to them cluck at their young and see them waddle along through the tall grass and fields.

• Black bears live in ranges – A male’s range can be up to 777 sq. Km (300 square miles), a female’s 130 sq. Km (50 square miles). They keep pretty much to themselves but will share their range with others. The male’s range may overlap with several female ranges.
• A cub will stay with it’s mother for up to three years (usually 1.5 – 2), at which time the mother will escort it out of her range into one of it’s own.
• Black bears “speak” to each other by snapping their tongues and huffing!
• They can sense your fear and don’t want to hurt you – but if they feel threatened they will charge. If a black bear attacks, do not “play dead” like they say to do with a grizzly. Make your self as big as you can, make noise, be frightening – the bear will most likely run off!
• Black bears are expert tree climbers and great swimmers
• Although they seem to lumber along, black bears can actually run up to 40-50 km / hour (25-30 mph)
• Black bears are not always black – they range from black, to brown, cinnamon, red, gray or even blond. Interestingly they are darker in the east and get lighter the further west you go. One sub-species known as Kermode or “spirit bears” that live in British Columbia, Canada are white!
• Black bears are native to North America
• They can smell up to 1.6Km (a mile) away. Their sense of smell is 7 times stronger than a blood hound!
• Female’s like to play the field… They often interact with multiple partners during mating season. They can birth up to five cubs at a time and each can have a different father.
• If food is scarce or conditions not favorable a mother bear can choose not to have a cub or cubs and her body will naturally abort her pregnancy
• Black bears eat mostly plants and berries but occasionally eat insects, carrion and fish. They have even been known to kill and eat deer and moose fawns.
• Average weight: Males – 90-225 Kg (200 – 500 Lbs), Females – 45-135 Kg (100 – 350 Lbs)
• A standing bear is usually just curious – not threatening!

Famous Black Bears

It is funny that most famous bears are based on black bears:

• Winnie the Pooh – based on a black bear at the London zoo. Harry Colebourn, a Canadian soldier (and veterinarian) had a bear cub. He named it “Winnipeg Bear”, “Winnie, for short, after his hometown of Winnipeg, Manitoba. During WWI when he was to ship out to England he took the bear cub with him and it became the mascot of his troop. When the troop received orders to go to France to fight the cub was left at the London Zoo to be looked after. A.A. Milne’s son, Christopher would visit Winnie often and his father wrote many stories about their imaginary adventures. To read more about the origin of “Winnie the Pooh”, visit The CBC Kids Website.
• Smokey the Bear – Learn all about Smokey – the little bear cub that survived a forest fire in the Capitan Mountains of New Mexico to become the US Forestry Service Mascot and Spokesbear!
• Teddy Bears – Named after President Theodore Roosevelt (after he refused to shoot a black bear). Learn More from the US National Park Service!

How To Get Along

• Keep your distance – you can admire these gentle creatures from afar, but give them their space – don’t get too close!
• Remember bears do not understand property lines and ownership – they are just following their natural instincts
• DO NOT FEED them! You may love bears and love to see them in your yard and even want to help them find food in the Spring when they first wake up but they are wild animals and need to learn to forage for themselves. Besides, you may love them but your neighbour may not and it is the bear that will pay the price.
• If you feed cats or other domestic animals outside try to place the food in a location that your pets can get to but bears can’t. Inside a barn or out-building, for example. Bears can smell that food, and if they are hungry, why not – it is easier than waiting for the blueberries to ripen.
• Bears have exceptionally good memories and remember (even year to year) where they can find food. So, if they dug into your compost green bin and found food last year, chances are they will come back and check it out again. To avoid messes and scares only put your green bin out on pick-up day, don’t give them the opportunity! If you have a lot of compost – freeze it until pick-up day. Not only do you not have to put it out early but the freezing will keep the smell down and the bears away.
• Be cautious, be respectful and don’t give them a reason to visit or get upset!

Bear Stories

Ah, Where’s my Camera

During my teens, I lived on a dirt road in rural NS. Ours was the only house on the road, actually. I loved going for walks along that road – just me and my camera. Being somewhat isolated I often saw forest animals, birds and nature at it’s best and as a budding photographer took many pictures to hone my craft.

One morning, after a heavy rain the night before, I went strolling down the road to a nearby marsh to look for beavers and birds. I was taking my time, enjoying the walk, the sounds, smells and sights – looking around to see if anything interesting would catch my eye when I heard a deep “HUFF”. I guess I wasn’t watching where I was going – always looking to the side where the marsh met the road. I turned slowly toward the sound and was quite surprised to see a large black bear sauntering down the road a short distance in front of me.

I gave an involuntary intake of breath and, as I had heard his “HUFF”, he heard my gasp and stopped. He turned, slowly – not his whole body, just his head turned to look over his shoulder at me. I froze! We stared at each other for a moment – and interestingly enough I was not scared, the only thing I was thinking was how beautiful he was, all clean and shiny and fluffy – like a giant teddy bear! He looked for a moment, slowly turned his head back around and sauntered away. I stood there smiling and kicking myself for not bringing my camera with me that day!

Is that a Skunk, a Dog, a Bear, Agggh!

As I mentioned above, I grew up on an old dirt road where I walked all the time – I was a nature kid and could not get enough. One of my older sisters was not as nature loving as me- she loved animals but was just not into spending her time outdoors, like I was. One day she decided to go for a walk down the road, I’m not sure why, just for something to do, I guess. She took our dog and off they went.

Our dog was used to walking on the road and was well behaved. He would stop and sit if a car approached or hop the ditch and sniff at the edge of the woods but would always stay close. As she was walking the dog got the scent of something and went to explore. She continued on knowing that he would re-join her shortly.

A few minutes later she heard a rustle in the ditch and thinking it was the dog – or possibly a skunk she didn’t want the dog to tangle with turned to check it out. Sure enough, she saw the dog’s black back in the ditch with it’s nose down snuffling in the bushes. She wasn’t sure what he was sniffing at and decided it might be better if he left well enough alone and came back to walk with her.

As she called out to him, he raised his head and heeded her call, climbing out of the ditch to join her. He wasn’t; however, our dog but a black bear looking for a drink or a snack. She didn’t wait for the dog or the bear – she ran home so fast, I’m not sure her feet touched the ground. She flew through the door, slammed it behind her and stood, leaning against it gasping for breath and trying to tell us what happened. “A b-b-b-bear….”. It was hilarious, like a cartoon, she couldn’t catch her breath and was stammering and stuttering – she wasn’t even upset – just out of breath – I couldn’t stop laughing – I know, great sister, eh!

Good news, we went back out, the bear was gone – probably not sure what had just happened – possibly running just as fast in the opposite direction and the dog was lying by the door, I’m not sure he even knew what had happened.

The Cows are Out Again!

One summer, after teaching up north, I was home for vacation, spending some time with my father on his hobby farm. Dad had some interesting cows who liked to break out on occasion and go for moonlight walks. One morning, around 3am we heard the dog barking wildly and both got up to see what was causing the commotion. The dog was running the length of the front lawn barking but not moving off the lawn toward the road. Dad figured the cows were out again as the dog would not approach or scare them, so we went back in for flashlights and dad headed to the pasture to open the gate and I headed out to the road to see if I could round them up.

Dad was much quicker than I was, which was probably a good thing. He came running back from the barn before I got out of the driveway and told me to forget the cows, call the dog and get back inside.

The cows were all still in the paddock and not knowing what was on the road it was safer for all just to go inside. Later that morning, when we got up again, we checked the road and found the largest set of bear paw prints I had ever seen. I’m glad I hadn’t flashed my flashlight in his eyes.

Up a Tree

Out in my back yard, one day, digging in my garden I kept hearing a funny sound. A quiet “Huff” or click and couldn’t figure out what it was. I kept looking for birds or squirrels or something that could be making the noise. Eventually, I looked up into the branches of a tree at the edge of our property and there in the foliage about 10-12 feet up was a bear – he was just lounging on a branch happy and content watching the world go by!

I went inside, grabbed my camera and started taking pictures. As I walked toward the tree. he seemed curious but not upset and as I got closer he stood up, climbed down the tree, peeked around it at me then shuffled off into the trees to find somewhere else to relax.

I’m sorry I disturbed him, but I got some great pictures!

Delivery

Last spring we were expecting a delivery of a large parcel from a company in Halifax. Instead of sending it with a courier, one of their company employees was heading our way for the weekend with friends and volunteered to drop our parcel off on his way.

Not knowing the area well he input our address into his car’s GPS system and followed the little map to our road. Now, our road is a dirt road with houses at both ends but only the old dump, a rock quarry, farmer’s fields and woods in between – the road is good on both ends but not great in the middle – little more than a cart path at times. If you know the area you don’t travel through the road but go in either end depending on your destination.

Oh, our road is also known for bears! In the spring there can be a 8 to 10 sighted each day.

OK, so these guys followed the GPS and proceeded to go through the road from the far end looking for our house. When they arrived one of them was grinning from ear to ear and almost bouncing. Apparently, as they came around a sharp bend there were two bears standing in the middle of the road. They were very excited and the driver in particular was so excited he stopped the car, jumped out and started taking pictures with his cell phone, moving closer and closer as he did. All the while, calling to his friends – “they’re bears, look they’re real bears” He told us, that at this point he thought – “Oh, they are – REAL bears!” ” I shouldn’t be doing this!!!” He slowly lowered his phone and backed up to the car. The bears hadn’t moved but as he started the car they sauntered off into the woods and he continued to our house.

We were going to tell him that we see them quite often but we didn’t want to burst his bubble. He had a wonderful experience and a great story to tell!

At the Quarry

A few weeks ago, my husband was picking up a load of shale at the rock quarry up the road from us. While he was waiting to be loaded he called me and said, “If you want some good bear pictures there’s a mom and her cub playing at the back of the quarry. I grabbed my camera and off I went.

The bears had been there for over an hour and although the excavators and dump truck were moving around and making noise, they didn’t seem to care. They were is the back corner of the quarry doing their own thing.

I stood on a hill at the top of the quarry and used my zoom lens so as not to get too close but mom watched me – even standing on her hind legs at one point, curious to see what I was up to. I was far enough away and she didn’t feel threatened because she didn’t hustle her cub away but stayed, watching me but still eating and playing with her cub. I watched them for quite a while then left them to carry on with their day. According to the quarry owner they stayed for another few hours before wandering off the find a place out of the sun to rest.

Do you have a favourite bear watching spot? Tell us about it in the comments below!