As we have said, when bears (including cubs) are in hyperphagia they eat almost nonstop, around the clock. As a result, they get chubbier and chubbier, or chonkier, if you prefer.
Here are two of the chubbifying cubs. Look at the round tummies!Look at Downy as she forages! She’s chonking up nicely!Three cubs, Ferdinand and two friends, engage in the mouth-licking routine that we see between cubs. We assume it is some sort of bonding ritual.They do stop for a while to sleep, but don’t stay in one place for long.Quarter to eight, and only two cubs are still asleep.By 8:00, only one is asleep – the others are foraging, drinking, or murdalizing a sapling.Another cub comes to wake up the late sleeper.OK, I’m up – the last cub is on the move.
Hyperphagia alters the routines of the cubs, as they spend more and more of their time eating. They need lots of water, too, so they drink a lot. (The sapling murdalizing is not a part of the hyperphagia routine.)
