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Sunday, May 26, 2013

Bearly Spring

The bears are starting to move around our forest, although much later than in recent years. Last year, bear mating season had been fully underway for weeks by this time.

Recently, this big male bear was intrigued by my trail camera. He probably smelled me and the camera, and he saw the soft red glow of the infrared lights on the camera.

First, he sniffed near the camera...
Then, he turned to peek at the camera. Can you see how timid he is, despite his huge size?
He contemplated the oddity of my trail camera for a moment...
And then decided to depart.
I enjoyed seeing the curiosity and a touch of timidness in the eyes of this bear. People tend to think of bears as ferocious creatures while the majority of them are actually quite cautious and would prefer to avoid humans.

Don't worry, he did not fear the camera, and he walked past it calmly again later that night. Indeed, he was heading for a bear marking tree where he put on a good dance, rubbing his back against the tree to attract females.This year's late spring seems to have slowed the females from emerging from hibernation. I have only captured a few photos of smaller, perhaps female, bears. I've captured no cub photos yet.

Here is the big bear's dance in video. You can view it here or at Youtube.
Seeing the photos of the activity here at home, it's so very hard to believe that we were in the desert, far away from bears, just before the bear danced.
I'll resume my desert stories soon.

17 comments:

  1. What a dance the bears do, as they mark the trees, a wonder they do not break some branches, he is huge.Shyla glows. Did she like wearing her bootees? I can imagine putting them on each day!! Greetings from Jean

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  2. That bear sure has the moves.
    Blessings,
    Goose

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  3. I just love watching those bears dance.

    Cindy

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  4. Oh wow! looky the bear dance! He is sooo happy!
    love
    tweedles

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  5. Loved the video DB, and have to add that last shot of Shyla is another breatheaking one. the colors are so soft and shyla so beautiful. (Calander Photo)

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  6. What fantastic bear photo's :) He was certainly very good at dancing. From Milo & Jet

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  7. So interesting watching the bears.

    XXXOOO Daisy, Bella & Roxy

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  8. That is one big bear! We love to see them in action!

    Love ya lots♥
    Mitch and Molly

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  9. Bear look so happy in that dark night.. Challenge coins

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  10. Those bears just amaze me....We have black bears in Florida but I've never seen one.

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  11. This is so cool! It must be amazing to come home, check the footage, and discover this. Bears are one of my favorites. At the zoo yesterday I watched the Sun Bears busily dismantling a tree in their habitat. We've seen grizzlies but only from a great distance (Yellowstone). And in our area, black bears get confused occasionally and wander into town from the Great Dismal Swamp. So - thank you for generously sharing the video of the bear marking the tree. It is fascinating.
    PS. I agree, they just want to avoid us, if we help them a wee bit by letting them know we are there and not feeding them they are happy to stay away!

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  12. Whoa - that bear is HUGE!!!! You should add some music to the dance video ans start anew craze with the bear dance:)

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  13. I'll admit - I'm scared of bears! We have so much other, possibly more dangerous wildlife here - rattlesnakes, mountain lions, javelina - but they don't worry my like bears do!

    Sam

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  14. so cool to see those bears live in the forest. They must think the camera is an alien
    Benny & Lily

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  15. Great trialcamera shoots....exciting to have those around you, be careful though

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  16. Big bear. I've been getting lot of bear again this spring also. Even have another set of triplets this year.

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  17. Love that big bear! I haven't seen any since my first sighting of the year back in April. Saw some cub tracks this morning, which made me smile. :-)

    Susan and Wrigs

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