When you let your mom cut your hair and she tells you what a handsome young bear you are… It’ll smooth out. The bears at Katmai National Park and Preserve are getting ready to retreat to their dens for the winter. Bears sleep in dens that they make themselves (check out their DIY skills), as well as in hollow trees, caves and dens built by other bears. (They’re always on the lookout for a rustic one bedroom with the bear necessities.) Do bears really hibernate? Bears actually enter a lighter state of sleep called torpor. During this time, a bear’s heart rate and breathing rate decreases, their body temperature reduces slightly and they do not eat or release bodily waste for long periods of time. They are able to wake up quickly to avoid danger, or if the opportunity exists exit the den to feed. Whether an animal hibernates or enters torpor has a lot to do with the size of the animal, smaller animals tend to hibernate and larger animals tend toward torpor. Bears south of Alaska usua...