Their top speed is 30 miles per hour over short distances. Black bears are good swimmers and good climbers. Black bears have an excellent sense of smell, but their vision is poor and their hearing is not that excellent. Bears find their food mainly by scent. They have a large vegetarian diet.
Bears drink lots of water and in hot weather they wallow in streams.
In autumn, bears have to eat heavily to fatten themselves up. Their winter den may be in a hollow tree or log. Females often select more sheltered sites than males. Males hibernate alone while females give birth while hibernating in their dens. Bears find their mate from early June to around mid-July.