Sharp in tooth and claw — and oh so huggable
PELHAM — Who knew that black bear cubs love to snuggle?
That’s just one thing I learned on a recent tagging expedition with MassWildlife biologists to the dens of hibernating black bears. The mother bears are tranquilized and removed from their dens. They are then collared, weighed, and measured to help biologists understand and manage the increasing black bear population. The cubs get counted and weighed, too — but, mostly, they get hugged.
MassWildlife has been collaring female black bears since 1980, when there were an estimated 100 bears. Now the black bear population in Massachusetts is 4,500 to 5,000 and expanding eastward, past Interstate 495.
Today is a hands-on visit. “Please dress appropriately for the weather and mud. Note that the bears’ claws are quite sharp, so it is advised to wear outerwear that is not easily punctured or damaged if you intend to hold the bears.” says a MassWildlife advisory.
The Mama Bear in the first den they plan to visit has a tracking collar, so biologists can tell when she is home in her den near the muddy shores of the Quabbin Reservoir.
The males are never home. They’re all deadbeat dads that mate and then move on. They are even capable of eating the cubs, but biologists say that is rare.
Governor Maura Healey came on this expedition with her partner, Joanna Lydgate, along with a host of MassWildlife officials and their kids. Everyone waits out of sight while biologists quietly approach the den. One biologist has a syringe attached to a jab pole and the other carries a dart gun.
But when they arrive, the bear and her cubs are already out of the den, watching from the thick surrounding pines. Maybe this mother is smarter than the average bear.
Biologists blame global warming and lack of snowfall for this season’s early wakeup call. The bears, who don’t really go into a true hibernation, usually wake up later in the month.
Undeterred, biologists try again, 20 minutes away deep in the forest.
They come upon a den under a tree on a ridge surrounded by mountain laurel. The biologists sneak up on the sleepy bear inside and her three cubs and jab the mother in the shoulder.
“When we first got here, we could actually hear them nursing,” says MassWildlife’s black bear and furbearer biologist Dave Wattles. “They make kind of a chittering sound.”
After she’s asleep, biologists cover the mother bear’s eyes to protect her from dirt and pull the 5- to 6-year-old sow out of the den on a sled. She weighs in at 212 pounds, well above the 140pound average. Biologists are concerned bears have increased their consumption of food associated with humans, from garbage to birdseed in feeders.
As they change her tracking collar and take measurements, the cubs, now separated from their mother, must be kept warm, so observers become baby sitters.
“Keep it in one of your layers, hug it, and keep it tight,” advises a MassWildlife staffer. “The cubs will need comforting. … Be careful. They have really, really, sharp claws, like little razor blades.”
The fur of the 6- to 7-pound babies, born in January, is soft, and they love to cuddle. Everyone enjoys holding them.
Healey, who grew up on a 40acre farm near the woods, can barely control her glee.
“It felt like holding a baby. Just adorable,” she says. “When you’re a kid, we all loved our stuffed animals. I mean, who hasn’t had a teddy bear, right? But to actually have a live bear in your arms that size, it was incredible.”
She inspects a mother bear’s sharp teeth and claws after a biologist tells her the bear is unconscious and it’s safe.
“The claws are so sharp and so long and necessary for everything that they need to do. Even the cubs have long claws and that’s going to help them start climbing trees in just three weeks,” she says.
“I find nature so humbling,” says Healey, then thanks the biologists for their hard work.
The state allows bear hunting three times a year, to control growth, and 200 to 300 are killed annually. Biologists are concerned about bears entering more populated areas. They don’t want them in people’s backyards and rummaging through garbage.
“Hunting is our main means of managing the rate of growth of our population,” says Wattles.
“If you care about these bears, take down your bird feeders, don’t provide food to them, let them depend on natural foods,” he says.
After the group leaves the forest, biologists spread hemlock boughs to cover the dirt floor of the den. They gently place the mother bear back in her den and then position the cubs so they can easily feed.
When one cub starts crying, Dave Fuller, MassWildlife’s Connecticut Valley biologist, worries it will attract coyotes.
“That’s the perfect predator call,” he says. He covers the den entrance with white pine branches to hide it.
Meanwhile the baby’s mother is starting to blink her eyes. The tranquilizer will wear off in a half-hour.
Biologists say she won’t remember anything. The humans who were there will never forget it.
‘When we first got here, we could actually hear them nursing. They make kind of a chittering sound.’ DAVE WATTLES, a black bear and furbearer biologist with MassWildlife