American Black Bear

Oregon has roughly 25,000 to 30,000 black bears, most of them in the Cascades and the Blue and Wallowa mountains, and Mt. Hood’s forests are part of that bear country. Despite the name, western black bears are often brown, cinnamon or even blond, usually with a paler muzzle. A heavy body, short legs, big feet, small eyes and ears, a very short tail and no shoulder hump help set them apart.

Black bears eat mostly plants: fresh grasses and greens in spring, berries and other soft fruit in summer, and nuts and seeds in fall, plus insects such as ant and bee colonies and the occasional carcass. They are not active predators. In autumn they fatten up, then spend the winter in a den under a stump or log, in a hollow tree or in a hole in a hillside. Cubs, usually two or three, are born in the den in midwinter and stay with their mother until they are about a year and a half old.

Bears are normally wary of people, but a bear that gets human food can lose that fear and become dangerous. Most bears that learn to find food around people end up being killed, which is why feeding bears is illegal in Oregon and why careful food storage matters at every campsite.

Seeing one from a safe distance is a highlight of any trip. Give it plenty of room and let it move on.