Without going into great detail to analyze what occurred in the early part of August, 2009 - I can say this.

The bears are gearing up for putting on all of the fat reserves they can for winter hibernation (actually "torpor", not hibernation). As a result of this I'm seeing more daytime activity of all the bears, with several bears appearing at the feeders numerous times in one day, spending fairly long periods of time eating, as opposed to one very long session eating (up to 2 hrs 20 min for one bear) at a feeders per day.

I'm also seeing more bears at the feeders (bears not seen before), and I'm seeing them well before daylight (a sow and 3 cubs). The last two weeks there were almost no sightings before 9 AM. Some type of hormonal behavior may be switched on, telling the bear they have to eat more - to put on more fat. Anyone want to do a little internet research as to what causes bears to eat so much prior to hibernation???

I'm also seeing more confrontations between bears, as a result of more bears at the feeders, and more bears arriving at the feeders at the same time. It will be interesting to see if the sows and cubs, and 1 & 2 year olds, will move at different times now, in an effort to avoid confrontation with the larger boars (there appears to be 3 of them).

From August 1 to 16:

8 deer were seen between 60 and 70 degrees, during 3 viewing sessions; 36 deer were seen between 70 and 80 degrees, during 11 viewing sessions; 14 deer were seen between 80 and 90 degrees, during 5 viewing sessions.

2 bears were seen between 60 and 70 degrees, during 2 viewing sessions; 20 bears were seen between 70 and 80 degrees, during 16 viewing sessions; 28 bears were seen between 80 and 90 degrees, during 16 viewing sessions; 13 bears were seen between 90 and 100 degrees, during 7 viewing sessions.

This show that peak bear activity occurred when the temperature was between 80 and 90 degrees, and that more bears were seen per viewing session (1.83) when the temperature was between 90 and 100 degrees.

It boggles the mind to think that large animals, with a black coat, and a growing layer of fat, would feed during the day, when temperatures were that high, instead of waiting to feed until the sun went down and the temperatures dropped 10-20 degrees at night.

From August 8-21

I just graphed the activity times of all the bears, at all the cameras, between 8/1/09 and 8/21/09. The results show that the bears remained primarily diurnal, with most activity between 8AM and 8 PM, but with activity as early as 3 AM, and as late as midnight. This nighttime activity was not seen in July and early August. Peak hourly activity occurred between 3 PM and 7 PM, just as it had in July.

The nocturnal activity was primarily by sows with cubs, which I suspect occurred as a result of the sows wanting to avoid conflict with the bigger bears. But, there was some nocturnal activity by the bigger bears. There was no evidence that the bears began to become more nocturnal in response to high temperatures, because they were most active in the afternoon, when temperatures rose above 90 degrees.

As a result of this I can only conclude that high temperatures do not impede daytime bear activity, and that, because the bears are not hunted, they do not exhibit nocturnal feeding activity to the extent that most hunted bear populations exhibit. The nocturnal feeding patterns of hunted bears (in high temperatures) are probably (in part) a result of hunting pressure; and not primarily high daytime temperatures.

However, until we see what temperatures the bears are active in, after they grow their winter coats (which should occur in the next month or two) - we cannot definitively say that the only factor the causes bears to become nocturnal in states where they are hunted, is hunting pressure. It may be that nocturnal activity is a result of both high temperatures and hunting pressure.

As I considered the type of habitat the hourly activity occurred in, I found that the pre dawn and post duck activity occurred, not in open forage areas as expected (because that is where many species that forage for vegetation are most active at night), but in or near wooded areas, where there is not normally much to forage on.

I suppose that if there were no feeders in wooded areas, the bears would either be active in open forage area, or they might not be active at all. The fact that they were active in wooded areas suggests that there is some nighttime activity by bears, and that if there is a food source near their normal nighttime "use areas" - they will go to those food sources - which may be why bears are active at baits put out by hunters in those areas where hunting is allowed during the fall.

The question that remains is: If there were no feeders (or baits) in wooded areas, would the bears forage in open areas, or would they just not forage at all (at night), if they were not hunted?

There is more information on Black Bears here.

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