Katie Martin is a biologist with Virginia’s Department of Wildlife Resources, and she’s been making the rounds this winter, checking on mother bears.
“We've got some females that we collared in the summer -- trapped and put a GPS collar on them, so we can track them," she explains. "Then in the wintertime we could go back and track reproduction, see if we've got any cubs and how they're doing.”
So far, so good she says. Baby bears are arriving.
“You either hear what sounds like little puppies crying or cats crying. That is likely a bear with cubs in a den.”
And, Martin says, those dens can be pretty basic.
“They'll just literally make a little hole -- maybe a nest on the ground, and then some will actually climb a tree, and they'll find a hollow spot in a tree, and they'll use that as their den.”
So if you’re planning a winter hike, it’s important to keep dogs on a leash, and if you come across a den or a mother bear, just walk away.
“Sometimes they can be startled, and they might run out, but if that happens, if you leave the area she's going to come back to take care of the cubs, as long as everything is left alone," Martin says.
Typically, females will have two cubs, but litters can be as large as five. One other reason for tracking bear moms now, Martin says orphaned cubs can be dropped into dens and will usually be adopted.
