Bears Gone Wild!

Our black bears are enjoying this extremely warm autumn. The males are busily marking trees. I've read that bears have a flurry of marking before they go into their dens. It's as if they want to put a final claim on their territory that will still be there when the first bears wake up in the spring.

I still remember vividly an extremely cold snap that we had in the 1st half of November two years ago. Look at the temperatures in the upper right of the photo. I bet that this bear (Tiny, I believe) wished that he was snug in a den.

Today, I'm sharing a video of a flurry of tree-marking by bears in the past couple of weeks. I included the first clip of Milton because I was so impressed with how easily he snapped a branch off the tree and then absent-mindedly dropped it onto the ground. It's amazing that the marking trees stay alive at all!

The next few clips are of a new bear. He's a male with a black stripe down the top of his snout and a black area under his lower lip. He seems determined to lay some claim to this area, despite the scents of Milton and Tiny that were definitely on the trees that he marked. I love his spunk!

Here's the video. I hope that it makes you smile!

After watching it, does anyone have an idea for a name of the new bear? I'd like it to relate to his distinctive nose and chin markings but I'm open to anything! I hope that he dens near here and sticks around.

Happy Saturday!