Our three little cubs had their first experience with snow a couple of days ago.  It prompted some interesting reactions, as these images show.  Snow in and of itself is not the reason that bears sleep during the winter.  The biggest reason is that there is a lack of food for them, so they simply shut down and take a long nap, living off of their accumulated fat reserves.  Their thick fur coats keep them plenty warm if they are out in the snow.  As we showed in our last post, their bodies are telling them it’s time for a den, and the Flower Girls have slowed down on their eating (this is very normal for bears at this time of year) and are spending a lot of time in their chosen den under the Acclimation Pen.  But the white stuff falling out of the sky aroused their curiosity, and they wanted to find out more about it.

Their den site, with snow.

Blossom peeks at snow from behind a tree.

Buttercup is curious about it.

Buttercup looks up to see snow falling.

She doesn’t mind it a bit.

Poppy discovers ice on the cement pond.

Poppy eats some ice. A cubby popsicle.

Buttercup tries the frozen treat.

Buttercup likes the ice.

This snow and ice event was something new for our little bears.  They had never seen it before.  It was a good learning experience for them.