The black bear in the mountains is active sometimes by day and sometimes by night. Probably it is principally nocturnal but active by day only when the food obtained at night is insufficient to meet the needs of the animal. In the lowlands it is almost completely nocturnal. In the mountains it enters upon its winter sleep with the first snows or, if the snows are late, when the huckleberries are gone. Ordinarily black bears are in "hibernation" by the middle of November. In the lowlands of western Washington they are active until after the salmon spawning season, and probably do not "hibernate" before the middle of December and may not do so at all. In the mountains they emerge from the winter sleep in May; in the lowlands they emerge in February or March.
The black bear is omnivorous in the truest sense of the word. Because the animal is of large size it requires much nourishment. This is obtained by eating large quantities of material with low food value. Material eaten passes rapidly through the digestive tract and often only easily digested parts seem to be utilized. Feces commonly contain complete and undigested berries and seeds or almost undigested pieces of apples or other fruit.
The principal food of the black bear in Washington is berries. Many species are eaten, but the huckleberry (Vaccinium sp.) is favored. Other food items are: Gaultheria shallon (pulpy fruit); Oregon grape, Berberis nervosa (flowers and fruit); salmonberry, Rubus parviflorus (leaves and fruit); leaves of several plants, including Rubus macropetalus and other thorny kinds; grass, succulent plants, and roots. Insects are eaten and most feces show remains of a few. In June, 1938, near Cle Elum, Kittitas County, a species of sword-tailed cricket fully two inches in length was abundant, and droppings of a bear there were composed entirely of the remains of these crickets. Fish, especially spawning salmon, are important food. When salmon are spawning the bears in the vicinity feed on nothing else. Warm-blooded vertebrates probably are eaten but none of the many bear droppings examined by me contained remains of birds or mammals. [Bennett], [English] and Watts (1943: 30) found few mammals to be eaten by bears studied by them in Pennsylvania. Locally bears kill pigs and sheep, smash bee-hives and raid fruit trees.
The large size and sometimes awkward appearance of black bears combine to give a comic note to some of their natural actions. A bear in full flight, lumbering along a trail with head swinging from side to side and hind feet stretching past the forelegs at each stride, is more apt than not to amuse the observer. Near Stevens Pass, a large black bear was observed lying on its back in a mud wallow. This was an oval opening in the ground in a meadow of heather and huckleberry near a small stream. The wallow was approximately 5 feet long, 3 feet deep and 4 feet wide. The bear was immersed in muddy water with only its head and feet visible. It seemed well content and comfortable, shifting its bulk occasionally and waving its paws. When a stray breeze brought to the bear the scent of my companion and myself the animal's contentment vanished and it hastily made a frantic effort to depart. It had wedged itself deeply in the hole, and as it twisted and turned in attempting to sit up, waves of water gushed from the wallow. Eventually escaping from its wallow, the bear half ran and half rolled to the cover of alders 100 feet away. This particular wallow had been in use by bears for some time, as was attested by old droppings at its edge and by its well-worn condition.
Fig. 50. Distribution of the black bear in Washington. A. Ursus americanus altifrontalis. B. Ursus americanus cinnamomum.
The fact that Washington has the largest population of black bears of the states in the union is due, largely, I feel, to abundant natural cover, food, such as salmon and huckleberries, and an intelligent game code. In California and some other states the black bear has been considered a fur bearer, to be trapped with steel traps. This is permitted in spite of the fact that their pelts bring but a few dollars, usually less than ten. Their sale scarcely repays the trapper for his labor in preparing the hide. [Townsend] (1887: 182) remarked on the ease with which bears could be trapped in California although in the same area they were so shy that they could seldom be shot. As a result of trapping, the number of bears in some states has been dangerously reduced. In Washington the bear is a game animal, to be hunted with a rifle for a few weeks in the fall when the pelt and flesh are at their best. As a result bears are numerous and can be hunted with fair chances of success.