Daily Postcard: A black bear cub climbs a tree in Bandelier National Monument (BNM). Most mature female black bears are already sleeping in a den where they will give birth to cubs in January or February. Although mating for black bears usually occurs in the spring, the embryo doesn’t implant and begin to grow until November. Two to three tiny cubs are born with closed eyes, hairless and helpless, utterly dependent on their mom. The entire family spends much of the winter snoozing, the mother waking frequently to care for her babies, then returning to slumber. The whole family emerges from the den in the spring. Cubs live with their mom until they are about 18 months old. Source: BNM. Courtesy/BNM