One animal we have largely put out of our minds during the cold winter months is the black bear. People are putting seed in their bird feeders and not worrying quite so much about putting the garbage out, because black bears are denned up for the most part. 

You might see an occasional male over the winter on a mild day, but the pregnant females and the females denned up with yearling cubs will stay put. 

Before bears hibernate, they try to consume a lot of food to bulk up for winter. Bears can consume up to 20,000 calories per day during this time. 

A couple of weeks after you read this, there will be new cubs in many of these dens.

Female bears breed every two years. Bears mate in June and July, but embryo development is delayed for about five months. The female bears give birth to their cubs in mid-January and can have up to five cubs; three is the average litter size. 

Cubs are born weighing under a pound, and are deaf and blind. They start nursing right away. 

Her milk is well utilized by her cubs; by the time they emerge with their mother in April, they weigh about five pounds.

Bear dens can be found in a variety of locations; a tree that has blown down can create a hole in the ground big enough that a bear can den up in the hole—perhaps utilizing the root ball of the tree as added protection. 

Cavities in rock ledges are used a lot, and even piles of logs and branches are utilized. 

In Pike County, PA, there was a bear den under the porch of a house. The landowner cooperated with the PA Game Commission (PGC) and allowed them to install remotely accessed cameras under the porch to allow them to monitor the mother and cubs during the winter. This bear-cam feed was shared on the PGC web page and became very popular. Some repairs were done over the year to the porch, and it is unclear if the female will return to this site for the next breeding cycle. However, the page is still there, and some recaps can be found from the last litter of cubs. You can find it on the PGC website here.