{"id":2177305,"date":"2024-08-31T12:00:20","date_gmt":"2024-08-31T11:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/?p=2177305"},"modified":"2024-08-31T09:55:20","modified_gmt":"2024-08-31T08:55:20","slug":"watch-out-hikers-bears-are-fattening-up-for-winter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/watch-out-hikers-bears-are-fattening-up-for-winter\/","title":{"rendered":"Watch out hikers \u2013 bears are fattening up for winter"},"content":{"rendered":"

With warm weather ongoing and Labor Day still weeks away, you might not be thinking about incoming fall yet \u2013 but your local bears are.<\/p>\n

Wildlife officials in Montana have issued a warning to campers and hikers to expect increased bear activity now through November as the state’s bruins ready themselves for winter torpor.<\/p>\n

The announcement, detailed in the Great Falls Tribune, comes days after a bear attacked a three-year-old child in a tent when food was left unsupervised at a campsite.<\/p>\n

Bears across North America start fattening up for winter \u2013 a process known as hyperphagia \u2013 as early as mid-August.<\/p>\n

Colorado Parks and Wildlife explains that this feeding frenzy sees bears spending up to 20 hours a day trying to eat more than 20,000 calories to gain as much weight as possible before their main food sources are buried in snow and they enter a state of rest.<\/p>\n

This time period typically sees the biggest increase in human-bear conflicts, with bears active for longer periods throughout the day and conditions ideal for hiking and camping.<\/p>\n

The problem is intensified by habituation, which is when bears start to associate humans with food and lose their fear.<\/p>\n

\"Bears<\/a>
Bears across North America start fattening up for winter \u2013 a process known as hyperphagia \u2013 as early as mid-August (Image credit: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Staying safe in bear country<\/h2>\n

If you’re recreating or residing in bear country, now is a good time for a refresher in bear safety \u2013 use the following advice to avoid unwanted encounters this fall:<\/p>\n