Do black bears get blackberry seeds stuck between their teeth? I wouldnt want to get close enough to find out, but they probably dont unlike me.

Theres no doubt blackberries constitute a major part of their late-summer diet, judging by all the deep-purple piles of manure on my street.

Do bears poop in the woods? Not so much, in my neighborhood. Wish they would.

Daily walks bring me into frequent contact with them. Duncan, my goofy bold terrier, flushed a large one from the Oregon grape bushes a few feet ahead us as my visiting younger brother and I strolled down toward the ocean a couple weeks ago. It stood on its hind legs 100 feet away curiously peering back at us, wondering if we were threats or menu items as we removed the safety catches from our economy-sized cans of bear spray.

This all is entirely routine and undramatic, but I understand why it tends to discourage pedestrian use of some Pacific County trails. Wildlife authority Russell Link says in Living With Wildlife in the Pacific Northwest that An adult black bear can easily weigh as much as a female grizzly, and more than a young or subadult grizzly of either sex. They are impressive bundles of muscle and bone, capable of closing the distance between themselves and us in about 10 panic-stricken heartbeats.

I knew a judge once whose nickname among attorneys was Yogi. They joked he was smarter than the average bear not smarter than the average human, mind you, but possibly able to hold his own in a legal debate with a bear. In the years since, Ive come to feel that this was somewhat more insulting toward bears than to the judge. He really was rather dull, while I detect quite a bit going on behind their shiny wild eyes.

Especially in our relatively benign climate with plenty of berries and garbage to eat, female black bears can live into their mid-20s, males several years less maybe they drive sports cars too fast in the offseason or fail to take their cholesterol pills. Anyway, I hope maturity means that most of those I encounter are well acquainted with humans and wise to the fact that tasting me would be more trouble than its worth. I nevertheless feel a personal stake in knowing what they do hunger for.

It turns out blackberries are fairly complete food, more nutritious than many supermarket fruits. A measuring cup of blackberries contains 2 grams of protein, 62 calories and 7.6 grams of dietary fiber. (I think that fiber is working just fine for my bears ) This is four times as much protein as an average apple, though with somewhat fewer calories. Blackberries are crammed with minerals and vitamins, with a cup of them providing half the daily adult human requirement for vitamin C.

But it obviously takes a lot of cups of blackberries to add up to a meal for a bear. Fall is a critical season for black bears and they commonly acquire most of their annual fat accumulation at this time. Bears may forage up to 20 hours a day during fall, increasing their body weight by 35 percent in preparation for winter, according to Link.

The British Columbia Environmental Protection Division figures that a medium-sized adult black bear needs to average almost nine pounds of food per day. For a bear on an all-blackberries diet, this would translate into 28 cups, or nearly two gallons. Going by their droppings, some of our neighbor bears may approach this. But for the sake of variety, they eat nearly anything including vegetation, fruits, fungi, insects, birds, mammals and carrion. It definitely seems like our ancient forest in and near Cape Disappointment State Park is considerably less crowded with coppery red-legged frogs after the bears come back in the spring.

Bears have lots more tolerance for sour berries than I do. It takes until Sept. 1 each year before blackberries manufacture enough sugar to tempt me. I sampled some last night on my way up the street. They glistened like bunches of polished black grapes, a sharp undertone of iron beneath the juicy sweetness. Usually, about now, wed get a spoiling spell of drenched days to turn them all to mush and mold. However, if this weekends forecast comes true, we and the bears are in for ideal berry-picking weather sunny and 70-ish.

I dont share my dads taste for sweet homemade fruit wines, but some blackberry jelly will be a good way to honor summer during the dripping, leaden days of January. According to my great- grandmothers 1873 recipe book, I should mash them, strain through cheesecloth, add 1 pound of white sugar for every 3 pounds of berries and let stand overnight. In the morning boil for 20 minutes, stirring well but adding no water. Have the jars hot, put the jelly in while hot, screw on the lids immediately, and tighten them again when cool. Theres no mention of pectin, botulism or pressure cookers and it comes immediately after a recipe for varnish for harnesses and carriage tops so use your own judgment.

Ill be out picking early in Saturday morning with Duncan and the ever-hungry bears.

Matt Winters is editor of the Chinook Observer.