Autumn and Bears

Our late autumn is truly here. It's very cold in the mornings, and the aspen leaves are turning. Shyla adores the cool weather, zipping around effortlessly.

It is the season when my favorite animals, the black bears, start to wind down. I am getting fewer and fewer photos of them on my trail cameras, as the aspens change color along their favorite paths.

It is also a sad day, for me, and even sadder for others. I have been an ardent supporter of a pair of Minnesota bear researchers, Lynn Rogers and Sue Mansfield. I took one of their field courses this summer and learned a tremendous amount about bear behavior. I had the opportunity to observe their research bears at close quarters. Their single most important research bear was killed the other day.

They've faced a lot of opposition to their research over the years because their research is based on building trust with the bears so that the bears will allow the researchers to observe their daily lives. The researchers have literally walked and lived with their research bears for days on end, observing every detail of the bears' daily lives.

Sadly, the rhetoric against the researchers has skyrocketed this year. Thus, I suppose that I should not be surprised that 3 of their research bears have been shot this year - 2 died instantly and 1 is a "walking wounded" bear. On Friday, a gentle giant mother bear, who had two young cubs with her, was shot to death, probably by a hunter.

In memory of that bear, I bring you a few photos of "my" bears, the ones who roam the forest near my house. This is Cinnamom, the cinnamon-colored mother bear who has two cubs. She visited a bear marking tree. I suspect that her cubs were nearby, as she frequently looked off to the side while at the tree. By this time of year, cubs are getting more adventurous and are not always right next to mom.

Then, as sows tend to do before denning, she marked the tree. Apparently, female bears have a flurry of tree marking just before they go into hibernation (this is one of the things learned by the Minnesota researchers). As she stood on her hind legs, her two lowest teats were obvious, still filled with milk.

After marking the tree, she paused. She's a beautiful bear who looks healthy and fat this fall. She'll den with her two cubs, and then will stay with them until the start of mating season next spring - around June or so.

She prepared to depart. I suspect that this might be our last glimpse of her before next spring. But, I'll keep watching, just in case my trail camera captures her image again.

I've never seen Cinnamom in person. She lives a bear's life, deep in the forest away from people. Most of my neighbors know nothing of her. But, I've followed her for a few years (via my trail cameras), and I am honored that she shares her forest with us.

Our world is a better place for having black bears in it. I hope to keep observing ours, using trail cameras, for many years to come.