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PlayBlack Bears NaturePod Field Guide

Black Bears

Yogi, Baloo, Paddington, Winnie the Pooh, Goldilocks’ friends, Gentle Ben and Smokey. Who are they REALLY? Ferocious creatures or cuddly companions?

Find out if any of these celebrated bears have roots in reality from an authority on black bears.

Dr. Mike Pelton has accrued more than 40 years of study on black bears throughout the Southeastern US. Through Black Bears of the Southeast NaturePod, he will share with you his accrued knowledge and fascinating facts about these creatures. Find out about winter dens, delayed implantation, the importance of acorns, how to tell if a bear is using the trail you’re hiking, and much more.

Download Dr. Pelton onto your iPhone or iPod Touch to have it with you when you are fortunate enough to see a black bear in the wild. Ranger Tom Condon also shares some incredible stories of black bear encounters while he was a ranger at Cades Cove in Great Smoky Mountains National Park – a location attractive to both bears and people.

Here’s What You Get & Learn

  • A look into a female black bear’s den
  • Vocalizations of baby black bears
  • How bears’ reproductive capabilities respond to the environment
  • Biology of black bears, including diet, physical traits, den preferences, and more
  • Good advice on what to do when seeing a black bear
  • Insight into how black bears are studied and how research techniques have been refined over the years
  • Historic and current populations of black bears and how this is determined
  • Humorous stories as told by a park ranger who got to know the antics of individual bears
  • Cherokee legend of how black bears came to be
  • How to recognize bear signs you may overlook while hiking in the woods
  • Nuisance bears and you

If you have ever wondered about these creatures, the Black Bears NaturePod is the perfect tool to satisfy your curiosity.


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Mike Pelton, Black Bear Authority

Dr. Mike Pelton, Black Bear Authority

Dr. Mike Pelton is perhaps the foremost authority on black bears in the eastern US. Mike has spent 40 years studying bears as a professor at the University of Tennessee. The work that he and his graduate students have done in the Great Smoky Mountains has helped visitors and managers better understand the significance of black bears in any ecosystem, whether in the Smokies or in your backyard. Read More.