Photographer Tom Sears distributed this photo of a mother black bear and her five cubs in northern New Hampshire. It is extremely rare for a black bear to have this large a littler; usually they have two, sometimes three. Infrequently, a litter of four appears. But five? Probably a record.
Sears tracked this group over a couple of seasons, holding his breath during New Hampshire’s bear-hunting season. Whenever he photographed them, he wisely avoided getting too close, because he did not want the family to get accustomed to the presence of humans.
