Physical Description

Black Bears are compact, with stocky legs, small eyes, short, rounded ears, short curved claws, and a long broad nose, and an inconspicuous tail. As a result, they are excellent tree climbers, have a tremendous sense of smell, but generally see poorer at distance than other large mammals. The black bear has a straight facial profile and a large skull. Black bears in Maine are normally black, but they are often various shades of brown to cream colored particularly in western populations, and are even white, and blue gray in color in coastal British Columbia and Alaska. They typically have a brown muzzle, and occasionally a white throat or chest patch or "blaze". Bears walk flat-footed, and their broad feet leave 5-toed tracks that sometimes resemble human footprints. Tracks of female bears rarely exceed 4.5 inches in width; males leave tracks up to 6 inches wide.

Size

Although most Maine black bears are not much larger than humans, their weight can vary tremendously with the season of the year. Bears store body fat during the fall months to supply energy during their long winter denning period and are heaviest in late fall. Adult males can reach 800 pounds but typically weigh between 250-600 pounds, and measure 5-6 feet from tip of nose to the tip of their tail. Females are smaller and can reach 400 lbs., but typically, weigh between 100-300 pounds, and measure 4-5 feet in length. Males stand about 40 inches tall at the shoulder; females seldom exceed 30 inches in height.