Bear cub?

I found a video on my wildlife camera that made me laugh out loud when I first saw it. You can watch it here or at Youtube.

I think that it's one of the bear cubs from the twins that we've been seeing in the area this summer. The camera was very low, below knee level and probably at a cub's snout level. Here's a closeup of one of the cubs from a month ago.

I wish that the bear had backed away from the camera for just a moment so that we could have seen if the rest of his family was there. I'm rooting to get another photo like this one of the whole family!

Do you think that the video was of a bear cub or an adult?

By the way, I didn't put anything tasty on the camera. He must have liked the taste that my hands left behind on the bear-proof case that holds the camera. You can also see that he pawed at it so I'm really glad that I had the camera in a strong case.

It was another hot day in the mountains so I had to take it easy on K in terms of mountain biking. We rode up high and saw the Divide with storms looming yet again.

We stopped to enjoy a meadow but K was looking hot.

So, I took her to a shady north-facing slope and looked for my favorite gems, tiny wintergreen blossoms. Success! The Pink Pyrola had burst into color, barely visible above the carpet of pine needles.

I didn't notice these tiny flowers until I'd lived here for more than five years. At this time of year, the showy wildflowers like the Columbines overwhelm me. But, it's worth looking on the floor of the pine forest for these beauties!

Even after waiting for me to photograph the pink flowers, K still looked hot so we headed home. She seems fine but I am being extra careful not to let her get dehydrated. She has an ultrasound of her kidneys on Thursday that will tell me how well she's healing. I'm hoping that we'll get good news that will make me more confident about taking her on adventures!

As a side note, several of you brought up the idea that R's brindle transition might be caused by medicines or diet. Indeed, that was exactly what I thought at first. There is indeed a tiny chance that the antibiotics that he took to heal his nailbed infection caused it but there are no cases of fur color changes due to those antibiotics anywhere in the veterinary literature. Moreover, we haven't changed his diet.