If I have counted the in and out of focus buffaloberries (Shepherdia canadensis) in this picture, there are 10.4 calories worth in the image. The average buffaloberry has .2 calories worth of energy in them. With a great crop this year and thanks to slow arrival of fall temperatures, the berries are still clinging on to the plant. The buffaloberries have been a very important source of food for the bears this season. Putting on weight to survive the winter and hopefully pregnant females will be giving birth to lots of cubs in the dens this January.
With so little amount of calories per berry, it becomes a number game for the bears. an adult grizzly like this male can put down 200,000 berries a day. That's about 40,000 calories per day. Translating that for chocoholic, that's like eating 75 of one of my favourite chocolate bars a day. The answer is no for those of you thinking the question. I have not tried eating 75 bars in a 24 hour period, unless dreaming counts.
Back to the berries. Even if you have a liking to raw buffaloberries, I would avoid copying the bears. The berries have a substance called saponin, which your digestive system will have an issue with.
