Do Bears Eat Whitebark?

The large seeds (pine nuts) of whitebark pine are commonly eaten in the spring (March-May) and fall (September-November) by grizzly and black bears in Yellowstone National Park and adjacent areas (Craighead and Craighead 1972, Blanchard 1978, Mealey 1980) and western Montana (Tisch 1961; J. ... Montana, Missoula, 1973).

What animal eats whitebark pine?

Squirrels also do the bears the favor of concentrating cones in large caches in middens of spongy cone debris accumulated over many years of squirrel activity. Whitebark pine seeds are an important food for grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) and black bears (U. americanus) wherever whitebark pine is common.

What eats whitebark pine in Yellowstone?

Many birds and mammals, such as Clark's nutcrackers and red squirrels, eat and cache whitebark pine nuts. Red squirrels create especially large caches of whitebark pine nuts and cones. The large caches, termed middens, may be used for many years and may contain well more than 1,000 nut-bearing cones.