The Official U.S. Maple Syrup Almanac 2014 2nd Edition | Page 85

he doesn’t believe they are damaged by their
contact with him. The ones he stays in contact with continue to regard him as another
bear, and remain wary of other people.
Ben puts radio collars on bears that will
live in his area, so he can keep track of their
whereabouts. He also sets up wildlife cameras
in places that are frequented by bears. The
photos show a variety of bear behavior, some
of which have not previously been documented. Scientists long believed black bears
were solitary animals, but Ben discovered
otherwise.
“They are highly social creatures. They
share food with others and routinely cooperate and communicate with strangers,” He
explained.
Bears also judge and punish. If one bear
goes against the rules, another bear will inflict
punishment, usually a bite. When a small
bear breaks a rule and a larger bear goes after
him, the small one will scramble up a tree and

cile, as if to say, ‘I’m sorry I had to do that, but
you deserved it.’”
He observed one bear adopting her daughter’s malnourished cub when the daughter
had more than she could care for. He also
discovered that in the spring, wild bears will
mark only maple trees by biting off chunks of
bark. Other times of the year, they will mark
other trees. Among his many discoveries is
“the Kilham organ,” located in the roof of
the bear’s mouth, which helps them decipher
whether something is safe to eat or not.
Ben says “People shouldn’t encourage bears
to come around houses by feeding them. It
never ends up well for the bears. The problem with feeding bears, is the impact it has on
your neighbors. If you don’t feed them every
day, they’ll punish you by doing damage. If
you’ve been feeding bears and want to stop,
go down to a low quality food, then when
there’s an abundance of natural food, stop
feeding and don’t start again.”

FOR MORE INFO
Ben and his bears

BEN KILHAM is a world-renowned expert on black bear behavior, and has advised scientists
in Russia and those in China working to restore the panda population. He shares his discoveries by
giving public presentations and
through his two books describing
his experiences, Among the Bears
and Out on a Limb.
MORE INFORMATION about
Ben, his books and his bear research can be found on his website: www.benkilham.com.
dash out on a limb to escape.
“The punishment always fits the crime,”
Ben said. “I’ve been bitten lots of times, but
always immediately after, the bear will recon-

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U.S. Maple Syrup Almanac

2014

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