Sleepy Cubs | America’s National Parks

a black bear and her cubs a typical
litter of three
for five months she hasn’t stirred even
as their mother slumbered the Cubs
nursed on a rich diet of super fatty
milk over the winter her own weight
dropped up to one-third how she survived
still stumps us during hibernation
her heart rate fell to just eight beats
per minute and somehow she turned much
of her bodily wastes into protein in the
coming months she must fatten up on what
the forest provides the survival of the
fragile Cubs depends on their mother her
survival depends on the Smokies
after weeks confined to a cubbyhole
new life makes its debut in the park
black bears are born climbers with
strong claws even a bear cub negotiates
the trunk like a power lineman
their debut draws attention
our mom must stay alert coyotes will
prey on the Cubs
so we’ll Bobcats
you
at night the treetops offer refuge from
predators that can’t climb in daylight
on the ground the Cubs are vulnerable
so mom won’t let them wander for the
next 18 months they’ll shadow their
mother their instructor and protector
within a park that safeguards them from
another enemy man