Bear and Coyote

We had a lethargic black bear come visit our clearing a few nights ago, just after the big snow storm. This is the bear who I've dubbed "Tiny" in the past, based on his humongous stature. Based on the fact that he's not in hibernation yet, I'm assuming that Tiny is a male. Look at his size!

He arrived in our clearing, knocked over our bear-proof garbage cans, and then walked to the base of our bear-proof birdfeeding station. The pole in the photos is very tall with branches coming off the top that hold birdfeeders.

Tiny obviously remembered that he couldn't get to the birdfeeders. He did something that no bear has ever done before. He arrived under the feeders and lay down in the snow. He stayed for almost an hour, lackadaisically scratching at the snow and licking up a few fallen seeds.

Every now and then, Tiny would look up at the birdfeeders, perhaps wishing that he could crack the code to get to them.

He even grabbed the pole once, but as you'll see in the video embedded below, he quickly forgot that he was trying to get to the birdfeeders and started scratching himself instead. That's just one example of how lackadaisical he seemed during this visit.

You can sort of see that he's scratching his chin with his hind paw in this still photo.

By coincidence, I'd just received a new camera in the mail, and I had quickly tied it to the tree near the birdfeeders that afternoon. That's where I put any new camera that I'm "trying out" before I decide whether I want to keep it (my favorite trail camera shop, trailcampro.com, has an awesome return policy if anyone doesn't like a camera).

For that reason, two cameras were taking photos and videos of Tiny during his long visit. Here's one from my new inexpensive camera.

Based on the video recorded by the new camera, I know that Tiny got scared away from the base of the birdfeeding station at least twice by a coyote that weighs a small fraction of Tiny's weight! You can barely see the coyote head in the far right of the photo below.

After each of his quick runaways, Tiny returned and postured in the direction of the coyote, walking with stiff legs in the coyote's direction.

After one of his runaways, he stared hard at the cams, perhaps getting tired of being photographed!

After Tiny finally departed around 12:20 AM, the coyote moved under the birdfeeders to make a statement.

Then, the coyote followed exactly in Tiny's tracks out of our clearing and through our forest. It was an amazing energy-saving strategy by the coyote because he didn't have to break his own trail through our fresh deep snow.

I suspect that the coyote wanted to see what food Tiny might unearth and leave unfinished. If, for example, Tiny had opened our garbage cans, there might have been some scraps left behind that the coyote could have eaten. My friend who used to have a chicken coop said that a bear would break in and eat the food that she'd given her chickens but would leave the chickens alive. The coyotes would follow behind and eat the chickens themselves. So, coyotes are smart, taking advantage of the brawn of bears to get food to eat.

As Tiny departed our clearing, he stood up on his hind legs and marked two large Ponderosa Pine trees. The story was clear from his tracks in the snow and the bark pieces scattered atop the new snow. That discovery was incredibly exciting for me because now I have two "bear trees" identified on my own property. You can bet that there will be trail cameras pointed at them next spring. I honestly don't expect to see Tiny again this year - he seemed lazy and sleepy. I suspect that he'll be drifting toward hibernation in the near future.

The next morning, R decided to leave his own message over top of the coyote and bear scent. I always check out the locations that where my dogs choose to pee because they often are leaving messages for the wildlife. Compare R's photo to the coyote photo above!

I spliced together snippets from Tiny's visit into a video which you can watch below or here. Most of it is "true video" because my new camera records nighttime videos. You can see the coyote scaring Tiny a couple of times in the video. Astounding!