Bears eat sprouting grass, emerging herbs and young tree leaves. Cubs taste what their mother eats, but swallow little except milk. Other bears are slowly gaining weight. Green plants become mature and bears don't prefer them as much, but ant pupae become abundant. Bears switch to a favorite diet of ant pupae.
Bears now begin to fatten up for winter as carbohydrate-rich berries get ripe.
It's mating season. Males roam widely to find females without cubs. Cubs begin eating solid food. Lactating mothers stop losing weight, and others are gaining weight slowly. Cherries, blueberries, serviceberries, wild sarsaparilla berries and raspberries begin ripening and become the major bear foods.