Bears_Lowerlevel_P01

It’s been a long day. I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow. It’s quiet. Suddenly, there is a loud noise! It comes from outside. I jump out of bed and run to the window. I stare into the darkness. What made that sound? It sounds like the rattling of trash cans.

A shape appears from the night. It’s a big black bear! It is trying to get into the trash cans. Dad always locks the lids of the trash cans at night to protect them from animals. The bear gives up and walks back into the woods. 

The next morning, I tell my teacher all about seeing the bear. It was surprising!  
I thought bears hibernated  or went into a deep sleep during the winter months. I had never seen one in December. She says that it is normal for black bears to seek food in trash cans. 

People’s garbage is an easy meal for a bear. She also says that not all bears hibernate. Only bears that live in places that get very cold need to hibernate. 

Up north, bears hibernate through the winter. In the winter, it can get very cold. The changing of the seasons cause many plants and trees to sleep, a type of hibernation. Trees and plants change color and lose their leaves. This helps them survive through the cold winter months. 

This is not good news for bears. Bears rely on fruits and berries from plants to eat. Even the rivers freeze in the north, so the bears can’t catch something else they like to eat—fish.