This young black bear with a shiny coat does not seem to have a big fear of humans as it actually took a couple steps up our back deck and looked in a window. The bear did not take off like most others when I went outside. My wife and I were wondering if someone might have fed it. As a reminder to those visiting the mountains, never feed wildlife!

Black Bear in the Front Yard

Black Bear Walking in the Shadows

Black Bear Sniffing

My wife took this picture through a window recently…

Black Bear in the Sideyard

Here are some additional black bear photographs I got near the house…

Black Bear in the Side Yard

Black Bear Looking

Black Bear in the Backyard

Black Bear Walking Past Boulder

BlueRidgeMike emailed me with this excellent photo to share of a bear crossing a road in Virginia…

Black Bear

Thanks, Mike, for the submission!

Here’s another picture of a black bear getting ready to dine on some wineberries. This time, the bear was flying solo.

Black Bear and Wineberries

Black Bears

I did not get any great shots, but have spotted a few black bears recently around some wineberries growing along the edge of our woods. Mostly, the bears are spotted at dusk and dawn.

Black Bears and Wineberries

In this picture, there were two adult bears. According to Virginia’s Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, bears are generally solitary animals so perhaps these two are a couple:

Solitary or Social?

Black bears are generally solitary, except sows caring for cubs. Adult bears may be seen together during the summer breeding period and occasionally yearling siblings will remain together for a period of time. Bears may also gather at places with abundant food sources.

Wineberries

Wineberries aren’t my favorite, but we tried some over some vanilla ice cream which was actually pretty good.

Looking at the wineberry bushes, it appears that bear select individual ripe berries to eat, although other animals could have left these star-like areas of eaten berries.

Wineberries