By: Ralph Urban
Board of Directors President, Middlesex Land Trust
Connecticut has a healthy and growing black bear population, currently estimated to be about 1,000 to 1,200 animals. While the bulk of Connecticut’s bear population can be found in northwestern Connecticut, bears are gradually expanding their range to include other parts of the state. Given that much of Connecticut landscape is wooded and includes upland and wetland areas, Connecticut’s natural lands are excellent habitat for black bears, who benefit from the abundance of fruits, nuts, acorns, and wetland-based plants that appear at different times of the year.
Males who are no longer cubs (known as boars) generally range in size from 250 to 500 pounds, and grown females (known as sows) range from 150 to 300 pounds. Fur color can exhibit a range of browns, but most have dark brown or black fur. While bears in Connecticut don’t strictly hibernate in the cold winter months, they generally sleep in dens located in uprooted trees and brush piles during the coldest months, limiting their need for food at the time when wild food sources are the scarcest. Sows with new young the most likely to den up, and litters can range from one to five cubs, with two cubs being the typical litter here in Connecticut. Boars can travel fairly widely, following sows until the sows are receptive to breeding, which occurs generally in late spring or early summer. During the breeding season, boar behavior can be somewhat more unpredictable. Breeding generally starts when the bears have reached three to four years of age. Often, older, larger boars out compete smaller boars. Fights between boars during this period can occur.
Bears generally don’t pose a serious danger to humans, especially if they have not been overly habituated to humans by having access to human-generated food sources like bird feeders, garbage, composting food, and the like. The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) recommends that if you encounter a bear, stand tall to make yourself appear as large as possible, make noise and slowly back away. Even if it’s a sow with cubs, she’ll generally encourage them to climb nearby trees, as they are excellent climbers. Do not try to outrun a bear; they are too fast and powerful, and can run as fast as 35 miles per hour. Given that bears have an excellent sense of smell, we all should be careful not to attract them with food scraps, birdseed, outdoor pet food, and the like. Should certain bears become a repeated problem, DEEP will come and tranquilize them, moving them to safer habitat. In rare cases where problem bears have simply become too habituated to humans and their food sources, DEEP may need to euthanize those individuals, so proper bear management strategies are key in ensuring we can share our habitat with these magnificent creatures.