During late-summer through fall Black Bears are in a physiological state called “hyperphagia”, which literally means “excessive eating”. During this period they are focused on eating during every waking moment. This is so they can build up as much fat as possible to get them through the winter. Make sure to wait to put out your bird feeders until after Black Bears have entered the winter denning season (usually sometime in November), and to make sure to secure garbage cans and any other unnatural potential food sources especially during this time period.