Black bears only lick their paws when they are hibernating, usually when they are hungry they go hunting for other small animals to eat and sometimes they dig for bird eggs.

When winter comes, black bears hunt a lot, then turn what they eat into fat in their bodies and store it in their paws, and then they look for caves and tree holes to hide in. Occasionally wake up in winter, wake up may feel hungry, this time the paws on the fat secretion, black bears lick paws can fill up, then hibernate again. Until spring comes~