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Hyperphagia & Fall Transition
When metabolic processes change in preparation for hibernation bears become lethargic, the active heart rates fall to 50-60 per minute, and the sleeping heart rate drops to less than 22 per minute. Upon entering the den, bears go without food and water for months. Mothers don’t produce cubs if they do not get enough to eat in the fall, and some bears die in the den.
Hyperphagia is an increase in feeding activity driven by a biological need to fatten up before bears go into the den for the winter. It’s a feeding frenzy or an all-you-can-eat buffet bear style. They are increasing their food intake by up to 20,000 calories daily and can eat twenty hours per day.
High-calorie foods Bear foods:
Berries, called soft mast, are a significant food source for Bears, serviceberries, chokecherry, crab apples, and other seasonal berries that ripen into September.
∙ 1 pound of wild berries has fewer than 300 calories.
∙ 28.26 pounds of chokecherries equals 20,00 calories
∙ 11.2 pounds of acorns equals 20,000 calories
∙ Acorns, hickory, and beechnuts are called hard mast and mature in late summer and fall.
∙ Bird feeders are an easy source of high-caloric food for bears (7 pounds of birdseed equals 12,180 calories.)
Human food equivalent:
∙ 20 chicken sandwiches +
∙ 10 large orders of french fries +
∙ 10 soft drinks +
∙ 10 milkshakes equals approximately 20,000 calories. |
