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Saturday, June 22, 2013

A Bear Family

While Shyla and I are out romping on the trails, it is so much fun knowing that there's a whole world of wildlife activity underway around us that we don't see. This morning, I was gazing at the woods a lot, wondering what all those animals are up to.
Part of the reason for my wondering was that, yesterday, I showed you photos of a mother bear and her two cubs. The sow was in our neck of the woods during mating season last year, trolling the bear marking trees to find mates. Based on the different appearances of her two cubs, I'm guessing that she did find multiple mates, and that each cub has a different father. Of course, it is conceivable that different colored cubs could be from the same father...

In the video below, you'll see that the mother bear has ear tags. That means that she got into trouble at some time, was trapped and marked, and then probably released a long distance from where she was trapped. However, my reading says that bears usually find their way back to their "home" area even when they are moved a long way. I'm curious about how she got into trouble because she's been in our neck of the woods, with her ear tags, for at least a couple of years. The fact that she's still alive tells me that she has stayed out of trouble since then. Bears get euthanized if they repeat their mistake even once.

You can watch the video of the sow and her cubs playing and wallowing in a spring here or at Youtube.
It was interesting that the cubs were so obsessed with the bear tree that they didn't play in the water with their mother.

I have more bear news, but I'll save most of the photos and videos for later. Our new male bear found a mate, and they traveled a long distance together, passing many bear trees (and my cameras) along the way. I'm happy to finally see an available sow or two in our neck of the woods. A breeding pair spends multiple days together, before separating to try to find more mates before the end of breeding season.

In the photo below, the male in the pair marked a tree. In fact, his tree marking seemed even more frantic than usual even though he had a mate in tow. That surprised me. I'll have a video of the pair traveling together soon.
It's summertime, and the world is filled with beauty, including incredible bears and delicate flowers.

It's my favorite time of year!

21 comments:

  1. Momma bear sure looked happy playing in the water. Thanks for sharing such amazing videos and beautiful pictures of the flowers.

    Cindy

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  2. We've said it before, you're so lucky to have all that wild life around you. So interesting to keep up with all their activities.

    XXXOOO Daisy, Bella & Roxy

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  3. Can't believe the cubs didn't want to play in the water. Amazing video. Beauty abounds.
    Blessings,
    Goose

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  4. Those cubs must have some Siberian blood with them not wanting to test out the water:) Mama Bear sure did have fun.

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  5. Fantastic video! We've had some bear poaching and pure evil (cutting off paws and leaving the carcass, etc.) around here. I wish the offenders could see how wonderful these animals really are.

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  6. Oh my word we just loved bear TV
    Benny & Lily

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  7. All of your photos are just gorgeous! Is it common for sows to have two cubs by different males? I guess I never really thought about it. I guess it's also possible that the one looks like Mom and the other one favors the dad.

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  8. Gosh for half a minute there in the second half of the video I thought you caught a shot of me sitting in the water.

    Thanks for answering my question about the cubs.
    Berts My Vickie

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  9. National Geographics ain't got nothing on you! Totally AMAZING!!!

    Hugs,
    Lily Belle & Muffin

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  10. My, that Mum sure loved the water, I can see why they are so special. Super flower pics, that last one, maybe print and frame, totally lovely. Greetings from Jean.

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  11. I am curious to know what kind of things Mom Bear might have done to be labeled a "trouble maker" and get the green pins in her ears.

    Great pics, KB!

    Jo

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  12. fantastic ... something like this is really a great experience ..
    very nice to look at ....
    regards Frank

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  13. It's neat that you can identify the returning bears. Have you ever thought of doing a study on them?

    Sam

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  14. I could watch the bears all day! So glad momma bear has not gotten herself in any more trouble!

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  15. Wow-that was great footage! The pond portion made me laugh out loud-so my Beah is really a Bear! :) really wonderful catch KB!

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  16. What a fun post, KB! We loved the first picture of you romping, Shyla, and we just loved the video of mama bear having the best time cooling off and our mom is just so nutty over all of your beautiful flower shots! They are just incredible!

    Love ya lots♥
    Mitch and Molly

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  17. How interesting about the bears.....you are very lucky to get all this on your trial camera...thank you

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  18. Simply awesome. Thanks for the explanation of the ear tags.

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  19. Wow that mud hole looked like fun!

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