Mespilus germanica or hawthorn, to improve their performance in different soils. "Mespilus germanica" fruits are hard and acidic, but become edible after being softened, 'bletted', by frost, or naturally in storage given sufficient time. Once softening begins, the skin rapidly takes on a wrinkled texture and turns dark brown, and the inside reduces to the consistency and flavour reminiscent of apple sauce. This process can confuse those new to medlars, as a softened fruit looks as if it has spoiled. Once bletted, the fruit can be eaten raw and is often eaten as a dessert, or used to make medlar jelly. They
Brown bear meet nutritional requirements. It is estimated that a small female brown bear may need to eat nearly 30,000 berries each day in late summer/fall in order to subsist on a purely fruit-based diet. Brown bears will also commonly consume animal matter, which in summer and autumn may regularly be in the form of insects, larvae and grubs, including beehives. Most insects eaten are of the highly social variety found in colonial nests, which provide a likely greater quantity of food, although they will also tear apart rotten logs on the forest floor, turn over rocks or simply dig in soft