Do bears hibernate in Alabama?

[Southernchickens]

I hunt whitetail deer every year and have heard that bears that live in Alabama do not hibernate. Does anyone know if this is true or not. Where I hunt, people have pictures of bears on their trail cameras.

 

[FireTigeris]

No animals larger then approx a chicken ever hibernate according to the scientific deginition of hibernate.

No bears ever hibernate they get up and eat and potty. If they were hibernating jn the scientific sence they wold be in suspended animation.

Sorry that all cartoons and bear booksfor kids are wrong.

Bears do have decreased activity in winter, especially dark days.

Have fun,be safe.

 

[aprophet]

google torpor pretty interesting reading it kina might depend on the latitude lota variables the more you learn about critters the less absolutes you believe in LOL

 

[KristyHall]

I am not sure about that. They may or may not. I live in Alabama and rarely run into bears. The bears around here are black bears and are generally docile. They are easy to run off, pretty small for a bear and are pretty rare in most areas.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

No they just migrate around more in winter.

 

[FireTigeris]

Ok, not a big supporter of wiki as a scientific sources but the researches who went to take a bears temperature to find out if bears hibernate got a nasty surprise.

One animal that is famously considered a hibernator is the bear, although bears do not go into "true hibernation".[4] During a bear's winter sleep state, the degree of metabolic depression is much less than that observed in smaller mammals, the bear's body temperature remains relatively stable (depressed from 37 °C (99 °F) to approximately 31 °C (88 °F)), and it can be relatively easily aroused. Many prefer to use the term "denning" or "winter lethargy" but others just consider it a different form of hibernation.[5]

I don't have access to my scientific sources anymore the subscriptions were cut, then I got cut and the subscriptions are too expensive.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/satoyama/hibernation.html

The "*" at the bottom says.

This has led some biologists to differentiate between the hibernation of, say, jumping mice and the "winter lethargy" of bears. Ours is not to quibble, however, and for the purposes of this article, sleeping through the winter—to whatever degree—will be referred to as hibernation.

http://news.softpedia.com/news/How-Do-the-Animals-Pass-the-Winter-49408.shtml

another

In their dens, bears alternate doziness with alertness when they will feel some intruder. They do not drink nor eat all this time, but their body temperature does not drop drastically, nor do the respiration or heart rhythm. Thus, contrary to popular belief, you cannot approach safely to a wintering bear.​

 

[woodmort]

Only along the Gulf coast, the rest go to Florida. Sorry couldn't help myself.