Black Bears are the widely distributed bear species, found almost everywhere and only 1 or the 2 bear species not threatened with extinction (Alaska and Eurasia’s Brown Bear the other).  Not a threat to humans (unless one steps between a mother bear and a cub), this vegetable and bug eating animal has a wide range of appetites.  As a boy, this writer would visit a homestead orchard complete with a bear trap, a box 4′ x 4′ x 6′ with a lid that would close after a bear entered and became ensnared in a metal bear trap (a practice used until 2 voter Initiatives in 1996 and 2000).  Traps are also banned in California and Colorado, but Alaska, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming continue to allow their use.  Oregon is contending with a ban, but only on public lands.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DDJG-nwRWyD/
https://www.instagram.com/p/C_Ek_tcyB0N/
https://www.instagram.com/p/C7K6ZKfpogO/
https://www.instagram.com/p/C8hB7G9OHai/
https://www.wta.org/go-outside/trail-smarts/how-to/hike-backpack-bear-country
https://westernwildlife.org/black-bear-ursus-americanus/biology-behavior-3/
https://wdfw.wa.gov/species-habitats/species/ursus-americanus
https://wdfw.wa.gov/sites/default/files/publications/00606/wdfw00606.pdf
https://interpretivecenter.org/everything-you-need-to-know-about-black-bears-part-1/

The color of the Black Bear is always black unless it is:

Blonde, Cream-colored, White
Light to dark Brown, Jet Black with Bluish tinge
All of the above

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