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Thursday, August 29, 2013

Sunrise and Bears

After Shyla seemed hot yesterday during our bike ride, I promised myself to regularly get out on the trails earlier while the warm weather is here. We saw sunrise again today!

I think that Shyla loves it as much as I do. We play and relax in the early morning time when the new day is dawning.
I love Shyla's intensity. She adores scanning the forest with her nose but she stays nearby even with tempting scents all around her.
Some of those scents might be our bears. I've captured lots of bear action with my trail cameras in recent weeks but I've fallen behind in showing it to you. Much of the action has been at springs where the bears go to drink and cool off.

The larger female who we've dubbed "Cinnamom" has two cubs. Her territory overlaps with the black sow's ("Mabel") territory. It's been interesting to see the behaviors of the two of them. Cinnamom has taken to marking trees near valued resources like water sources.

Standing tall...
Rubbing her back hard against the tree (notice her enlarged teats)...
And posing for the camera...
Here are Mabel and her cub near the same tree. There is a spring within about 30' of this tree and another one within a quarter mile that both mother bears seem to value highly. As a side note, look how big Mabel's cub has become! Single cubs get lots and lots of milk and grow quickly.
I captured footage of both sows and their cubs in the springs. First, Cinnamom and both cubs visited a small pool fed by a spring (watch here or at Youtube).

Then, both mothers visited another spring within a half day of each other (Youtube link).
Based on recent sightings, it seems that Cinnamom has headed away from these springs while Mabel (black sow with one cub) is still near them. It'll be interesting to follow them as the summer season winds down.

Thank you to all of you who voted in the Trail Camera contest. I got third place in the US and Canada category due to your votes! Unfortunately, that doesn't come with a prize but it's a big honor because the competition was so tough. I'll enter again in the future!

14 comments:

  1. Grrr, for some reason none of the videos we are finding on blogs today are working for us. Not sure if it is a Firefox issue or what. But we still love seeing beautiful Shyla.

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  2. The videos are fantastic! I'm sorry you didn't win the contest this year, but you take some great photos! I have a feeling you'll keep doing well in the contests!

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  3. Third place, very good. Guess the same one cannot win every year. That first pic of Shyla, wonderfully beautiful, love the close focus on her face. Cheers, Jean.

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  4. Congratulations, third place is incredible. I love catching up on the bears, love love love the videos

    Anne and Sasha

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  5. The color in Shyla's eyes in that light is amazing. Love the bear videos too. None of us would ever see such things if it weren't for you sharing them. Thanks!

    Cindy

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  6. Congrats on 3rd! The competition WAS very tough, but I am betting you will be back on top next one.

    Great bear pix this time and lovely Shyla pix too.

    Cheers,

    Jo

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  7. Always love the bear photos.

    Congrats on your win.

    XXXOOO Daisy, Bella & Roxy

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  8. Sorry you didn't win but 3rd is still nice. When it is a voting thing, people with large families and a big facebook presence have a big advantage.

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  9. Congrats on your third place finish. There was some awesome pics on there.

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  10. Mabel's cub sure did get big. Those bears are huge. Do you ever seen mountain lions in close proximity to the bears?
    Benny & Lily

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  11. Congratulations on 3rd, KB! We love watching the bears, especially the cubs. They are so cute!

    Love ya lots♥
    Mitch and Molly

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  12. Congrats on placing 3rd, that is an achievement. We look forward to voting for you again next year!

    Can't believe how big the cub is, wow!

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  13. Amazing videos! Your photos are also amazing! Thank you so much for sharing them.

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  14. OMG! those bears are awe-inspiring! Seriously, the video just rocks. I don't know if I could hike there with my dogs knowing bears were so close. Yikes. I could just see Loki going cujo on a bear... shudders...

    Hey I can't find your email address on your site. Can you email me your email? julie at wilddingo.com? thanks KB!

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Thanks for your comments!!!!!