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.