Despite their size, brown bears are shy. They mostly want to be left alone with the forest. They have big paws with long claws that they use to dig up roots, turn over logs to find insects, and rip open beehives to eat the honey. Bears really do love honey - just like Winnie the Pooh.
In autumn, bears eat as much as they possibly can. They munch berries, nuts, apples and salmon, packing on fat to survive the winter. Then in late November, they crawl into a den - a hollow under a tree root or a cave - and fall into a long sleep called hibernation. They stay there for about four months without eating or drinking.
Mother bears give birth to cubs right in the middle of the winter sleep. The cubs are tiny - about the size of a kitten. They snuggle into mum's warm fur and drink her milk while she sleeps. By spring, when they come out of the den, the cubs are big enough to start exploring.
There are only about 150 brown bears in Poland - so they are rare. Park rangers in the Tatra Mountains track them carefully to make sure they are doing well. Hikers are taught how to behave if they ever see one: stay calm, talk in a soft voice, and slowly walk away.