Bears stand to twist their head and bite with the upper and lower canine teeth on one side of their mouth. This simple bite was made by a black bear as it rubbed and bit this birch tree. There is a pool of mud around a nearby utility pole and that is likely the source of the mud rubbed on this pole. This utility pole is along a power corridor. This well-bitten utility pole marks a spot where bears regularly cross a road. Hair bleaches where it is exposed to sunlight. Hair can often be found on poles and trees where bears have rubbed. He both stood to back-rub and bite, and sat to head-rub and bite this pole.īlack bear fur caught on a utility pole the bear rubbed. This utility pole has been bitten repeatedly by a male during mating season. Bears seem to prefer poles and trees that lean slightly and they rub into the lean. This utility pole has been heavily marked by black bears. Bite marks on utility poles are generally at the same height as on trees, but bears sometimes bite low on poles. An easy way to tell if bears live in an area is to check the utility poles, especially those on upland ridges where bears are likely to cross a road. Utility poles are favorite marking ‘trees.’ These are typically in ideal locations along travel corridors, but preservatives might be a factor, too. Bears are shedding their winter fur when much of the marking is done in spring or early summer, so the bark may also catch underfur, which is thin, wavy and shorter. Guard hairs are typically coarse and 3-4 inches long and have a narrow base that may be wavy. The hair often bleaches to brown or blond after a few months but can still be distinguished as bear hair from its length and appearance. Look for hair caught in the bark or wood 2 to 5 feet high and look for bites 5½ to 6½ feet high. Favorite trees have little ground vegetation to prevent a bear from approaching them, and they often lean slightly toward the trail. Marking trees are generally along trails. Bites leave nearly horizontal marks that look like a dot and a dash where the upper and lower canine teeth came together. Claw marks are usually superficial, but incisor bites are deep enough that pieces of bark and wood are sometimes pulled out. They rub their shoulders, neck and crown and may also claw and bite the tree. Fecal plugs have a light odor that is not unpleasant.Black bears of all ages and both sexes rub their scent on marking trees, including wooden sign posts and utility poles, but the majority of this marking is by mature males during the mating season (May and June in Minnesota). By the sixth or seventh month in the den, most of these bears defecate-usually near the den entrance. Bears lick their tender feet and ingest pieces of the pads.Īlthough black bears are said to hibernate without eating, drinking, urinating, or defecating, most bears in northern regions remain in dens so long that they develop extra large fecal plugs. In mid winter, the bears begin to shed the calloused soles of their feet, much as people shed calluses. Where bears remain in dens for 5-7 months, pieces of footpads are also found in fecal plugs. In the process, they licked hairs and bits of bedding (leaves, grass, bark, etc.) from their fur and these indigestible items pass through the intestine essentially unchanged. The cameras revealed bears grooming more than was previously thought. Remote cameras in dens revealed how hair and plant material become part of the plugs. The fecal plug is simply feces that have remained in the intestine so long that the intestinal walls have absorbed the fluids out of it, leaving it dry and hard. During 5-7 months in dens, bears accumulate feces in the lower 7-15 inches of the intestine to form a “plug” 1½ to 2½ inches in diameter. Starving humans also continue to make small amounts of feces when they have no food intake. Researchers at the Wildlife Research Institute in Ely, Minnesota found that the “unidentified” main mass of the plug is intestinal secretions and cells that continue to slough off the inside of the digestive tract during hibernation.
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