A wild baby bear

A few years ago, I talked with a friend who works with a group tasked with protecting the black bear population in Arkansas. For several years they have surveyed the population by tagging select female bears with locator chips. This allows for seeking out the chipped female bears when they are hibernating in their dens and observing them and their babies.

Female bears give birth during winter while in their dens. The tiny babies nurse and grow in the quiet darkness warmed by their mother's body heat. By late winter, the babies have grown enough to follow their mother when the weather warms enough to venture out.

I asked my friend for a photo of a baby black bear, if he ever gets one. He sent me this image about two weeks ago. He said this baby bear was clinging to a sapling about 6 inches in diameter. He estimated the bear to weigh about 6 pounds. Never approach a baby bear if you see one in the woods. Its mother will be close by, and you may pay a serious price if she sees or smells you.