|
A skiwv.com Featured Article: Black bears in the Mountain State (continued)
If you're in West Virginia ski country, the chances are you're also in West Virginia bear country. Few animals are the subject of as many questions and as much interest in ski country than the magnificent black bear, West Virginia's official state animal and a remarkable comeback story in the Mountain State.
While most black bears are dormant through the peak of ski season, it's not unusual for them to begin venturing out of their burrows in March or even late February, depending on weather conditions. Mothers with newborn cubs are especially likely to take an early stroll outdoors.
 Naturally shy, black bears will generally avoid the hubbub of commercial ski resorts and other areas of concentrated human activity. The occasional exception who develops an interest in late-night garbage-can leftovers is quickly removed with the help of state biologists to more remote locations.
However, cross-country skiers who venture further into the wild may come across the distinctive wide footprints of these mountain giants as winter turns to spring. Actual sightings are extremely rare, which is a good thing! While the overwhelming majority of encounters result in a hasty retreat by both bear and human, biologists warn that bears can be unpredictable and dangerous, especially with youngsters around.
Black bears almost vanished from the Mountain State in the 1960's and 1970's. Two centuries of hunting and, more recently, habitat destruction associated with logging, mining and development had reduced their numbers to an estimated 400 statewide. By the mid-1970's, the only sizeable group left was clustered in the rugged mountain country surrounding Greenbrier County's 4180-foot Cold Knob, about 60 miles southwest of Snowshoe Resort. (On the state highway map, Cold Knob is near the small community of Trout in north-central Greenbrier County). Biologists feared that smaller groups in Randolph and Preston counties were becoming too small to maintain the genetic diversity necessary to ensure continued survival.
 At the last moment, West Virginia citizens and political leaders heeded the warnings of wildlife biologists and rallied to the bears' defense. A campaign led by Charles Connor, then editor of the Charleston Daily Mail newspaper, did much to further public understanding and support.
The largely unsung heroes of the effort were the biologists at the state Division of Natural Resources who brought the threat to light, and hunters who recognized the need for scientific management to ensure a continued population. Together, they began aggressive tracking, census and protection programs, and today bears have repopulated much of the state. The resurgence has been especially impressive in south and southwestern West Virginia, where bears have even been spotted inside the city limits of Charleston, the state capital.
Today, DNR estimates the black bear population at 10,000 and growing. Individual bears that become a nuisance or threat to humans are quickly tranquilized and removed back to the wild. Hunting - on a tightly controlled basis - is allowed. Scientific management allows bears to be culled only from areas where the population is secure and, in some cases, in danger of growing too large for available resources.
One of the most common questions about black bears is whether they actually hibernate. Strictly speaking, they don't - bears may awake at any time during the winter, but their period of dormancy - the scientists' preferred term - can be marked by respiration and heart rates as much as 60 percent below normal. Cubs may actually nurse in the den for six to eight weeks before their mothers come fully out of dormancy.
Brain activity, curiously, remains almost normal even during deep sleep, meaning that a bear can wake up in an instant if its den is disturbed. For this reason, scientists use tranquilizer darts to study them, even in deepest winter.
Another common misperception is that bears are voracious carnivores. Actually, as much as 75 percent of their diet in a typical year consists of berries, nuts, seeds and roots. Small animals such as rabbits, and scavenging for carrion of larger animals, account for much of the rest.
The public holds one common notion about bears that is right on target, however. There are few things they enjoy feasting on more than honey, and the scent of a honey-laden bee hive can send them scrambling up trees barely able to sustain their 200- to 600-pound weight. A hive high up on a sapling can result in some curious and comedic poses as the tree bends down under its colossal burden!
Will you see a black bear while visiting ski country? Probably not.
But for most of us, it's comforting to know that these magnificent, largely gentle giants have once again found a hospitable home in the mountains of West Virginia.
Photos by Arnout Hyde Jr., courtesy of Wonderful West Virginia magazine. For more articles about the natural wonders of West Virginia, visit www.wonderfulwv.com.
| HOME | RESORT NEWS |
|
|
|
 |
|
