07/15/2026
What are bears up to in July? They’re busy finding food!
Bears have more than a hundred times as many smell receptors as people do and can follow scent trails a mile or more back to the source. Because bears are omnivores and much of their diet is vegetation, insects and carrion, their sense of super-smell is vital to their survival.
Bears have a much better sense of direction than most people. They can return year after year to wherever they found food, whether it’s the berry patch that ripens in July or the trash that goes out every Thursday night.
Cubs are big enough now to follow mom as she goes foraging for food. If mom is a wild bear, she teaches them what’s good to eat and how to find and eat specific foods. She shows the youngsters how to eat berries, catch fish and dig for insects. She even lets them smell her breath, so they learn to associate certain smells with foods. Yum, termites!
If mom has learned to rely on human food sources, one whiff of mom’s breath will teach the cubs to associate the smells of garbage, pet food, bird seed and more with easy meals. Instead of learning how to forage in the wild, they learn how to raid garbage cans, knock down bird feeders, empty pet food bowls and prowl campgrounds. IF they grow up, they’ll teach their own cubs this same behavior.
Visit this page to learn more about bear behavior in July and ways to be BearWise this month and all year long:
bearwise.org/what-bears-do-in-july
Be BearWise, lock it or lose it! Share our resources with your friends, neighborhood, community center, and library.
