Bears - Sounds Wild
Bear Nests

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Bear Nests

I was hunting in the late fall and my companion and I came upon an unusual tree. It was a good size live spruce, broken off part way up. What was unusual were the marks on the bark. There was a clear path up the tree, worn spots in the bark, on limbs and the broken nubs of limbs, as if someone with muddy feet had repeatedly climbed up and down the tree, taking the same route. We didn't realize it, but there was almost certainly a bear hibernating inside that tree.

Biologists in Southeast Alaska have found that it is very common for black bears to hibernate in cavities in trees, inside hollow trees, and in cavities in the root wads underneath big trees. Biologists collared and tracked 65 black bears on Prince of Wales Island located 52 bear dens, and every one was associated with trees. Prince of Wales Island is famous for its many limestone caves, but none of those 65 bears hibernated in caves - they were all in trees.

Bears' prepare their dens in the fall by making repeated trips to the den with mouthfuls of branches, evergreen boughs and other vegetation, making a cozy nest for their winter sleep. A number of the dens were "elevated dens" in trees, literally bear nests, up off the ground in cavities, and hollows in broken-top trees. Researchers found that bears re-use the dens year after year.