Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my!

Even though there are no lions or tigers Maine there are certainly bears.  But, one may ask, how often do you actually see bears?  Are they abundant?  My answer to you is no, I do not see bears.  There are only black bears in Maine.  I have only seen one black bear in my life.  The only one I saw was five years ago on a walk with my mother.  The bear was fairly small and he or she ran off after he heard us coming (which by the way, they can run up to 35 mph).  These black bears are usually only around five feet tall.  No doubt they can be fierce when riled up but if they remain unharmed, they are not going to go out of their way to hurt you.  They are for the most part vegetarians, but sometimes they prey on the abundant deer in the spring.   People hunt bear in Northern Maine (over 3 hours of a drive north from me).   Black bears are more abundant in Northern Maine which makes hunting there possible.  You must obtain a permit which costs $27 for Maine residents (http://www.maine.gov/ifw/licenses_permits/hunting.htm if you are interested).  No one I know hunts for these animals. 

If there is a bear in my neighborhood, which usually is once every couple of years, the news gets around town and people use caution when going outside.  The bear usually sticks around the area for a couple weeks and then you do not hear about it anymore because they have migrated to where there is more food.

I hope you take away from this post:

1. Black bears are the only bears in Maine
2. There are barely any Downeast, where I live
3.  No, people here do not hunt bears in their back yards
4. Bears are friendly unless you mess with them
5. No one actually carries around bear mace except the outsiders who have extreme paranoia

I would love to know why bears have lighter fur in colder climates.  For instance, when you go a bit more north you run into light brown furred grizzly bears and in the arctic, white furred polar bears.  This is definitely something to think about and research.  If you have an answer or any bear stories I would love to hear!