Black bears (Ursus americanus) have made their presence noticed in Duluth. I can personally attest to this.
I strolled home after a day at the lab and was greeted with a, “Dude, you just missed it!” My roommate showcased his prized Instagram photo of the day. He held in his hand his phone containing the picture above: a mother bear and her two cubs walking through my back yard. I live right off Arrowhead road near SuperOne.
My biology and journalistic curiosities kicked in. What was this furry trio doing in my back yard?
The most conspicuous answer is the fact that Duluth is a relatively green and “outdoorsy” city where nature and humans are in close contact. Our paths interweave, but why is it bears being seen and not wolves, lynx or any other animal roaming the great northern woods?
Population Collision?
As a starting point I wanted to find out if perhaps the population of bears was growing, forcing bears out of the woods and into more urban areas as they try to find space to make a living.
Dave Garshelis is a has been a bear researcher for about 30 years and is the Department of Natural Resource’s bear project leader. He says the population is not the problem. In fact, Garshelis told me in a phone interview that the Minnesota bear population is estimated at around 15,000, which is down from 20,000 bears during the mid 1990s.
This fall, the DNR lowered the amount of hunting permits to help manage the declining population.
Chris Balzer, a DNR wildlife manager in Cloquet, pointed out that there is generally a pattern as to where more bear complaints are called in.
“It’s usually areas where there are more people, but that doesn’t mean there are more bears. Bears are generally content just being left alone in the woods away from people.” Correlation is not always causation.
So the run-ins between our furry inhabitants and Duluth residents isn’t necessarily a numbers game - at least on the bear's part. It may be more revealing to take a closer look at black bear biology by examining the behavior of a hypothetical bear; we’ll call him Bruce. ( I used insight from my phone conversation with Garshelis along with a paper written by Garshelis and a fellow bear expert to help understand black bears in order to create Bruce).
Seeing life through Bruce
Bruce is an average Minnesota black bear. He weighs in around 300 pounds and is 8 years old. He is a resident of northern Minnesota. Bruce’s sense of smell is superb; “far better than any dog,” Garshelis told me.
He uses his sense of smell to ‘see’ the world around him. As a human would use their eyes to make their way through the thick of the woods, Bruce uses his nose and it is much more effective. This is how Bruce finds his food and senses his environment.
Bruce can smell the sweat of a runner on a neighboring trail. Bruce can smell the exhaust from the traffic on Arrowhead Road. Bruce can smell the ants in a log 5 feet to his left. Bruce’s nose is what compels his instincts and his instinctive nose is what leads him to his next meal.
Bruce’s Diet
In early spring Bruce awoke from a 7 month slumber sleeping through a harsh Minnesota winter. When he first emerged food was scarce, but he is an opportunist, an omnivore.
Throughout spring Bruce followed his nose to wetlands and feasted on the roots of aquatic grasses. His movements were based on where he could scrounge up food. As the gradual warmth of the seasons progressed from spring to summer Bruce’s diet changed. In early spring he fed on clovers, different flowers, emerging leaves on aspen trees and the occasional whitetail fawn. These are but a few of the early types of meals Bruce indulged in.
In June to July Bruce reduced his diet as he sought out females to breed with, but his diet began to shift towards ants and berries.
As late August and fall approached, Bruce’s diet shifted again to nuts and acorns, foods with high oil and fat content. Bruce starts consuming as many calories as he could, something biologists call hyperphagia.
Its now mid September and Bruce sniffs around the woods in search of his next meal. He begins preparing for another winter of hibernation where he will mainly survive off the fat he accumulates in this final stretch of gorging. This search of food brings him south where more ‘fatty’ foods are available. Bruce’s cravings and essential hunger drives him into Duluth.
The North Shore Funnel
When I spoke to Garshelis about what may be drawing bears to Duluth he believes bears, like Bruce, may funnel down the north shore. Researchers generally collar bears and other large mammals to track their movements and behaviors. Garshelis cautions that this ‘funneling’ is only a “supposition” and hasn’t been confirmed by research. Our northern black bears head south on a relentless search for regions with more plentiful food.
“Bears are on the move looking for foods like acorns, nuts and sunflower seeds, so you can imagine what it’s like when they come across a stationary bird feeder full of seed,” Garshelis said.
Garshelis and Balzer also both commented on bears moving south into corn territory as biologists are learning corn is another source of food bears can consume in their preparation for winter. More research is currently being conducted on when and why bears feed on corn.
Garshelis advises people to not feed bears if they enter your yard, “Bears will become stationary and won’t go where they generally go. People can cut short their travel and alter their behavior.”
It seems it could be a combination of both the location of Duluth and the hunger of bears that makes our city a black bear hot spot.
Garshelis said bears should begin entering hibernation within the next week and will continue through mid October. People should begin to see any resident bears start to disappear.