•According to bear expert Dr. Lynn Rogers (A Bear in Its Lair, Natural History Magazine, Oct 1981), black bears are efficient hibernators, as they can sleep for months without eating, drinking, urinating, or defecating.

•They store body fat in preparation for hibernation.

•During hibernation their body heat is lost very slowly because of their insular pelts and low surface to mass ratio, allowing them to cut their metabolic rate in half and still survive the winter sleep.

•Mothers wake up to give birth in mid-to-late January and are very responsive to the cubs' needs.

•The length and depth of hibernation is genetically programmed to match regional food availability (it is longer and deeper in the more northern reaches of their range).

•Likewise, in southern states where it is warmer and where food is available year-round, some black bears do not hibernate or else they are easily aroused if they do.

•Never disturb a bear during sleep.

•Black bears make their den with the onset of cold weather so that, by the end of December, there is almost no black bear activity in bear-centric places like the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

•They will den high above the ground in hollows of trees, hollow tree stumps, rock overhangs, shallow caves, or wherever else they can find shelter.