In the Northeast's winter, heavy snow sealed the mountains, and the world was a blanket of white.
Such a harsh climate was a trial for the Northeasterners. It was also a trial for the region's wildlife.
And of all these trials, the most crucial was food.
In the Northeast, vegetation stopped growing in winter. The mountains and rivers were covered in ice and snow. Roe deer could only gnaw on the tips of trees in secondary forests, rabbits chewed on locust bark, and squirrels and badgers had their stored food. Wild boars, on the other hand, would root through the snow for thatch grass and dried fruits.
Bears, however, survived the harsh winter by hibernating. Therefore, they would accumulate a sufficient amount of fat in the autumn.
Bears are omnivores with a wide-ranging diet. They eat hickory nuts, hazelnuts, pine nuts, and even dare to tear apart hornets' nests for the honeycombs within.
But for a bear's massive gut, these foods were too much of a hassle to eat.
