Between December and March bears are in a state of hibernation, or lethargy. This is due not so much to the winter cold as to the lack of food. During the winter months, a bear has to survive on its accumulated fat.
So the bear sets about preparing its winter den, cleaning out the debris, expanding it and making itself a comfortable bed of leaves, grass, moss and twigs. Bear lairs have been discovered in the oddest of places: in caves and rock crevasses, under the roots of fallen trees, in decommissioned mine shafts, in holes under mountain chalets or bridges. The entrance is always narrow and hard to spot.
