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Monday, June 15, 2015

Bears taking Mud and Water Baths

While Shyla and I have played in the meadows, the bears have been busily going about their business in more forested parts of the land.
Although it hasn't been hot, the bears are still seeking out the pools of water and mud in the forest. I captured video of a bear taking a mud bath in a pool you've seen before in videos of mine. But, I also discovered a new-to-me pool of water in the forest.

For a couple of years, I've watched a parade of bears walk up a gully, getting their photos taken by my trail camera. I'd tried to figure out where they were going by putting trail cameras in various places further up the gully. Despite my best efforts, I couldn't figure it out.
Finally, in our incredibly wet weather, I figured out where they were going!!! The ground has been so soft that I was able to follow Tiny's huge paw prints in the mud. He was heading for a secret (and probably seasonal) pool of water.

I immediately found a trail camera to point at the pool of water and was rewarded soon thereafter. Tiny took a SEVEN minute, very mellow, bath in the pool of water. Don't worry - my video doesn't show the whole 7 minutes. Rather it shows some of the more interesting behavior from the 7 minutes. One thing that fascinated me was that Tiny repeatedly put his entire snout under water. He didn't seem to be eating anything from the pool so I'm guessing it was a cooling technique.

Here's the video. It includes a cinnamon female taking a mud bath, then Tiny taking a bath in the new pool, and, finally, Tiny marking a tree after his bath. Someone asked in a previous post if bears urinate as they mark trees - and the answer is that they definitely do, especially during mating season. Perhaps that's why baths are so popular!

You can watch the video here or at Youtube.

I am truly hoping that the mother bears start taking their cubs to the water holes soon. It's so fun to watch the cubs and mothers playing in a pool!

28 comments:

  1. very, very cool. i had visions of my dogs and my mare that loves the ponds and mud holes, too. :)

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  2. WOW! You are getting so good at capturing critters on film! I loved seeing this and it would have been fine if it were to be 7 min. long. thank you for sharing!

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  3. Wow,, that looked like a gooey muddy bath!! Isn't it amazing that all that mud would come off,, and then their coats be all shiny clean again!
    The dance was beautiful!
    Everyone needs a secret mud hole!
    love
    tweedles

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  4. Tiny looks very much like Otto and his friend Aria bathing in the water. We call it 'hippo-ing' :-) Maybe we should call it 'bearing...'

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  5. Crikey ..... fascinating!! They sure go for it, aye?? Mum could watch seven minutes and more of that!!

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  6. THAT was AWESOME!
    I wonder if a mud coating helps keep the biting bugs away for a while...that's what I've always imagined. I should probably try it myself! Especially since Tiny sets such a great example of how to enjoy the moment...for minutes at a time :)
    Thanks for editing and sharing this excellent footage, KB!

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  7. Completely magical and so much fun seeing these bears in action. Thanks for sharing!

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  8. So cool that you found the new pool. Thanks for sharing such special pictures and videos.

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  9. That's cool butts I don't understand why in the world that bear wanted to take a bath, that's just crazy.

    Aroo to you,
    Sully

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  10. Amazing video. that bear really got into marking the tree
    hugs
    Mr Bailey, Hazel & mabel

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  11. It's so cool watching wild bears being wild! Thanks for sharing the video! :D

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  12. Very busy, and interesting when he puts his nose under. The shake, what a swirl as he gets excess water everywhere. Superb.

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  13. They certainly are fascinating!

    We thought at first with the mud bath that maybe the mud inhibited biting insects....but in the water, it just looks like fun.

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  14. what a fabulous spa treatment :o) I like mud too... and the fur of the bear looks a little like mine after the mud bath :o)
    easy rider

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  15. That was a nice deep pool for a bath! What fun watching them! Thank you, KB☺

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  16. How awesome is that. They just look so relaxed and comfortable. I bet it feels great for them.

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  17. Fantastic video! Watching the cinnamon bear, I wondered if the mud baths help with parasites like ticks? And watching Tiny, I wondered if you were at all nervous while following those big paw prints. You didn't have Shyla along I'm guessing. I know the bears just want to mind their own business but I wouldn't want to surprise one on a trail...

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  18. This is so cool seeing these bears in action
    Lily & Edward

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  19. That video was so cool, I am going to ask momma if she will make us a mud hole to play in also since I kinda look like al little black bear.
    stella rose

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  20. That is a great video! Looks so relaxing and peaceful. I sure hope you can get some video of the cubs.

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  21. Bears are so civilised. I had no idea. Now, where's the rubber duck?

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  22. Oh yes, they truly are so fascinating!!! We loved watching Tiny take his bear looking so content and relaxed. We hope the cubs show up with Mom so we can watch them too.

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  23. How cold is the water? Is it icy snow melt? Very cool to see bears enjoying life!

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  24. That's pretty cool. It seems like Tiny takes a soak like lots of humans do, except I think we are much more relaxed. :-)

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  25. Animals are smart!

    Your Pals,

    Murphy & Stanley

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  26. Wow, what a cool video! Thank you for sharing it! Rita would totally be down with that mud bath! (I mean, as long as a bear wasn't already in there...)

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  27. You're running a spa for bears in your neck of the woods! I pay good money for those mud treatments! Great video, KB.

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