THE BEAR NECESSITIES
Black bear Genie grabs onto a pole after coming out of the den at the Ecomuseum in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue after she and partner Juno, not shown, woke from their winter hibernation this month.
Forget the phoney fanfare of Groundhog Day, the real prognosticators of spring’s arrival are the bears at the Ecomuseum Zoo in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue.
Even though the temperatures were still a few degrees below zero last Thursday morning, Juno and Genie, the two female black bears in residence, poked their heads outside their cozy digs and groggily took their first few outdoor steps of the 2017 human calendar.
The celebrated awakening ended a four-month-long snooze, better known as hibernation. Ecomuseum staff and visiting high school students gathered near the zoo’s bear enclosure to witness what has become an annual rite of spring at the Ecomuseum.
David Rodrigue, executive director of the Ecomuseum, said the bears’ awakening is one of nature’s ways of announcing that spring has truly arrived.
“It’s a spring celebration because the bears know. They know when spring has arrived. It’s here for sure.
“It’s interesting. If you look at the forecast the next two weeks, you can see that temperatures are going up.”
While the first official day of spring was Monday, March 20, Rodrigue said the bears instinctively know when spring is beckoning.
“The bears have what is called a biological clock, but there are a number of factors which affect that. You have to consider they’re in the wild; they’re in a cave or an opening where they can hibernate,” he said.
“Due to a combination of temperature and barometric pressure, they can actually sense it better than we can. Most animals can. Most animals that are linked to some kind of dormancy will react to it very strongly.”
Juno and Genie went into hibernation Nov. 24. Zoo staff check on them daily to make sure they are OK. When they are ready to end their hibernation period, the bears become more active in their quarters.
After three days of consecutive activity, the hibernation period is considered over.
Over the years, the bears have come out of hibernation on different dates. The earliest wake-up call recorded was March 6 while the latest was April 18.
“They just know,” Rodrigue said. “Once again, it’s not about looking at the weather forecast; it’s about connecting with them and connecting with nature. Whether we like it or not, they’re much more precise than we’ll ever be in so many regards.”
So much for Groundhog Day, eh? “That doesn’t work,” Rodrigue said, laughing.
“The real ones are here in Montreal (...) When the bears come out, it’s spring finally. Finally.
“We go through pretty good winter in Quebec, so spring is nice.”
The bears are hungry when they awake from hibernation, so food is provided, said Caroline Bourque, a director at the Ecomuseum.
“When they first come out, they’ll eat a little bit but it takes a while for their digestive system to get back into the swing of things,” she said.
“So we provide them with some food but they won’t be eating the same quantity as they will during the summer.”
After foraging for treats the staff had placed about the bear enclosure, one of the bears looked like it was ready to head back inside for a midday nap.