I could just the make out the coarse tips of brown hair. My head was twisted tightly down to the left as the weight of my body crammed my head and shoulders deeper into the snow. If a skier or snowboarder happened by it would definitely look like I was head first in a tree well...which I kind of was. Any slight movement and I kept losing the only view deep inside the bear's hollowed lair.
I found this newly constructed bear den last October and did not linger in case I left human scent. I made note of the large crack above the entrance where I could possibly peek in later during winter.
Because of the high snowpack, I've had to "gently" remove about 50-cm of snow to expose the top portion of the crack. I never dig down to the entrance to avoid disturbing bears; I just wanted to know if the den was occupied. Inside there could be a single bear or a mother and cub.
There are two brown, black bear mothers on the west side of Whistler - Daisy and Brownie, each with 1 black cub.
With 340-cm of snow still covering the den's entrance on the down-slope side, it was technology's turn. With great difficulty (because I wanted to be quiet) I wriggled myself back up and out of the tree well. I stepped back from the tree and dug out from my pack, a small square, tough-looking plastic box that housed a remote camera. I fixed and locked the camera to a tree about 8 meters away and aimed the lens at the vicinity of the entrance. That's not as easy as it sounds, as it's tricky knowing where that entrance is under so much snow. The camera will take three quick photos every time it senses movement during the day and again at night using infrared. Last spring on April 16, Katie plus 2 cubs were remotely photographed emerging from a den on the north side of Whistler. The camera recorded emergence date, time, and ambient temperature during each captured image.
Bears begin emerging from winter dens in April. When I monitored bear use at the Whistler landfill from 1993-2006, male bears would frequently emerge the first week of March to feed on skunk cabbage and garbage. Regardless of the deep snow pack, most lone males and females with yearlings (cubs born Jan 2010) will tunnel out of dens before May. Mothers with cubs-of-this-year (cubs born Jan 2011) emerge last as late as mid-May.
There are many triggers that "tell" a bear when it's time to wake up. The key trigger is fat depletion and how a bear feels.
If a bear entered its den last November not feeling totally satisfied and was underweight, then the metabolic process of "eating away" brown fat during winter doesn't last as long and in extreme cases, the bear could die.
This could be one of the natural causes of older bear's (>20 years) mortality following a poor berry crop. In Whistler there has been a low incidence of bears dying at dens or soon after.
Maximum daily temperature, hours of daylight, and snow pack also play a role in waking bears. The longer days of spring, especially at certain den sites, can increase the effect of solar radiation. When the ski report forecasts afternoon freezing levels reaching 1600 metres elevation over several days, that's an indication that bears are beginning to wake up.
Most bears den 1000-1700 metres in elevation. Bears tend to den at the higher range to ensure adequate snow pack over their den entrance. That way thy avoid disturbance from extreme temperature changes, heavy rains, and sounds/vibrations of skiers, snowboarders, and snowmobiles.
Single bears leave the den within a few days but mothers with young will linger for up to seven days. Bears then move to lower elevations to construct daybed depressions at snow free aspects or in dense second growth forests to shield them from rain.
Sometimes they will build a nest of conifer branches on top of the snow. Bears remain lethargic though and sleep most of the day. They become active during early mornings and evenings to forage their first foods of pussy willows and skunk cabbage.
Bears have a fecal plug to eliminate, which is a mass of decayed wood, pebbles, dirt, conifer needles and bear hair that builds up in their digestive tracts during November. This plug prevents digestion during hibernation. Mother bears get rid of plugs at the den because they in fact have been feeding on the feces from their cubs. Consuming feces keeps the den clean and allows mothers to rebuild nitrogen that they exhausted during birth. Single bears usually rid plugs at their first daybeds.
Because we have a large bear population that has adapted to utilizing vegetation growing along golf courses, ski trails, parks and roadsides some of these bears have a historic use of non-natural foods (garbage and bird seed).
Bears will venture through your backyard to look for spilt seed and/or garbage. If you ensure your residence is clean now, you will reduce the frequency of attracting bears and contribute to maintaining a healthier bear population.
Because of last year's poor berry crop, some bears will push hard to find a non-natural supplement to get their weight/energy back. Expect to see skinny, rough looking bears.
External parasites cause hair loss around a bear's eyes, muzzles are worn, and body shape is more angular because of fat and possibly muscle mass depletion.
The rough-looking bears are one to three-years-old and are supposed to be on their own.
This spring will see high bear activity again because of the high mountain snowpack. Many bears will be forced to forage through the valley for longer periods.
If you see improperly stored garbage and/or a bear getting into garbage you should call the bear line at 905-BEAR (2327).
Bear Update columns began in 1995 to report on the annual events of a changing bear population. This year, 2011, is my 18th year of bear research. Questions about bears can be emailed to mallen_coastbear@direct.ca or call 698-6709.
