Bear rut effected by weather?

[mustelid_master]

Q: If a spring is slow to arrive and unseasonably cold, say June 1st of a given year has May 20th snow levels and temperatures, will the bear rut be delayed? Or is it go-time regardless of temp and snow conditions?

 

[mike.adams.467]

In my opinion, the rut is going to happen when it normally does, be it deer, elk, bears, moose, etc. Generally speaking, of course, but it seems to hold true.

 

[medvedyt]

on my experience the rut of the bears (grizzly and black) is less affected than the moose or caribou ones.

 

[BRWNBR]

Bears do not “rut”. Bears are induced ovulators. Their ovaries drop once they begin to breed. Sows are what’s called receptive to breeding. That is what most folks confuse with rut. She is not ovulating or in estrus like a deer.
A buck can one and done a doe. A boar will stay with a sow sometimes for a week or two breeding her many times to ensure she’s fertilized.

If bears had a rut boars would kill them selves trying to find all the sows in a couple weeks, because bears are nomadic and spread out so much. Animals that rut, typically build harems or become more social animals.

 

[medvedyt]

we can talk as well about the blastocysts and the delay up to denning but still even for some that did not want to call rut there is a receptive periode and the optimun peak is less than 10 days ...

and it can happen than a boar will breed more than one sow and one sow can be bred by more than one boar.

it i not uncommon for boars of the black and grizzly species if they found another boar during the period of mid may to june that some call the rut that they will fight and may kill or seriously wounds. it is known as well that bear most of the time cannot stand each other except in some aeras where food is generously found ... and except during the rut ... between male and female. a boar may kill the cubs of a previous litter to mate like lions are doing. i ve seen that a lot in africa for the lions.
i d like to see yukon bears like in katmai.

 

[mustelid_master]

whatever bears do, is it delayed by the weather?

 

[medvedyt]

no. not by my obsrevation i ve seen them mating under snow.