A cool day in summer, and luckily for us in the Adirondacks we still enjoy some cool summer days, is a day you might get lucky and see a black bear. Think about it. If you had to walk around in July and August in a thick black wool coat, would you be day-active or nocturnal?

Black bears are actually both. But with a hot sun shining down and lots of people thronging into the woods, Adirondack black bears tend to discover their inner night owls.

The bear in the photo is big and probably a male. How big? I can only guess that this animal weighs several hundred pounds or maybe a little more. The average female weighs only a couple of hundred pounds, but some females and most males grow larger. The biggest black bears in the Northeast weigh more than the average grizzly bear at Yellowstone. That’s a sobering fact when you consider that black bears can run at astonishing speed, faster than gold medal winning Olympian sprinters. They’re highly adept climbers, too.

Fortunately, Adirondack black bears are generally peace-loving. If we avoid feeding them, they leave us alone. Seeing one is a rare treat. Most of my sightings have come in or near patches of blueberries heavy with fruit. A typical bear sighting consists of the back end of the animal as it makes a tactical retreat.