Sometime in March or April, when the sun pushes back the clouds, when the grasses green and the buttercups bloom, Oregon’s black bears emerge from their long winter sleep.
Hungry bruins head straight for the river valleys early in the spring, taking advantage of succulent forage below the snowline. Grasses, grubs, flowers, and the tender shoots of smaller trees and shrubs are the target as the bears get their digestive juices flowing again.