On a recent trip to Northern Vancouver Island we were fortunate to be able to observe a number of American Black Bear in the wild. We have numerous close-ups of these animals, however we were always aware of their 'wild nature' and stayed well out of their way and used telephoto lenses for all of our shots. Black Bear trivia: Experts say that most bears become active a half-hour before sunrise, take a nap or two during the day, and bed down for the night an hour or two after sunset. However, some bears are active at night to avoid people or other bears.