Bears hoping to rack up 20,000 calories a day before winter. Where do they look?
Bears need to gain a lot of weight before winter, and they’ll look anywhere and everywhere for food.
Wildlife officials are warning people to be prepared to see bears searching anywhere they can for food.
“Bears are entering hyperphagia — where they eat 20,000 calories each day to fatten up for winter,” Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials said Friday on Twitter. “For up to 20 hours per day, they’ll be following their noses for easy, calorie-packed meals.”
During the fall, bears eat food “nearly nonstop,” according to the National Park Service. The process is called hyperphagia.
Bears get more active during that time because they’re constantly on the hunt for food, the National Park Service said.
Some bears can gain more than 3 pounds a day before hibernating, Yellowstone National Park said.
“During hyperphagia, bears are very active and many visitors have a chance to see them in action,” park rangers said. “But do not feed the bears! Bears that eat human food can lose their preference for natural food sources and their fear of humans.”
Bears look everywhere for food during hyperphagia. They can dig through trash cans, eat off of bird feeders and break into homes or cars to find a meal, according to Colorado wildlife officials.
Bears’ noses are “100 times more sensitive” than humans, and they can smell food up to five miles away, Parks and Wildlife said on its website. They can also seek out trash that smells like food or scented products, such as air fresheners, wipes or perfume.
Bears are smart and will come back to a location where they’ve found food.
In one Colorado town, bears broke into several homes by prying open cracked windows. A hungry bear also got into at least eight unlocked cars in one night.
Bears have also done damage when breaking into other homes in the West. In California, a bear wandered into a couple’s home and made a mess of their kitchen in April.
In March, a mother bear and her three cubs peeled the siding off a Kings Beach, California, home and trashed part of the basement. They also broke a gas line.
Wildlife officials have warned that if a bear breaks into your home, you shouldn’t confront it.
“Most bears will quickly look for an escape route,” the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said on its website. “Move away to a safe place. Do not block exit points. If the bear does not leave, get to a safe place and call 911.”
Wildlife officials also offered the following tips to deter bears:
Don’t leave food scraps in your yard
Have a bear-proof garbage can
Don’t put out the trash can until the morning it’s to be collected
Do not leave food in your vehicle
Do not spray bear spray near your property (It can attract bears once dried)
Do not feed wildlife near your home
This story was originally published August 16, 2021 at 11:34 AM with the headline "Bears hoping to rack up 20,000 calories a day before winter. Where do they look?."