BLACKSBURG, Va. (WFXR) — A new study by researchers at Virginia Tech has found bears may be getting mixed messages from nature that affects the animals’ hibernation. The findings were published in June in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.
Bears get their cues to hibernate from ambient temperature; colder temperatures mean it is time to hibernate, and from photo periods; shorter daylight hours in the winter.
While those photo periods have not changed, warming temperatures during the winter months may be affecting black bear behavior…