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Monday, July 31, 2017

Milton the Big Black Bear Dances Westward!

Our resident huge male bear, Milton, recently took a long walk westward. I have his favorite route through our neck of the woods nailed - I got lots and lots of photos and videos until he passed out of range of my trail cams.
I am including some of the more notable photos of him here, and I have video footage at the end of the post.

One poor pine sapling has been reduced to a trunk and one small branch by Milton's crazy marking of it over the years. Milton marks this tree more than any other bear.

It's not a tall tree and it's invisible behind him in this photo. It's short enough that he often squats down to rub his back on it.

Then, he reaches back to find the top of the trunk.

At the very end, I imagined that he let out a celebratory whoop - which is why his mouth is wide open in this photo!
As a side note, I took a wild bear behavior course a few years ago. I spent time very close to wild bears, and none had teeth that looked as healthy as Milton's!

After walking another mile or so, he arrived at another favorite marking tree. This one has flourished despite his vociferous dancing while rubbing his back on it multiple times per summer.

During this journey, he was heading generally in the direction where a large male bear was killed the next day. I hope that Milton is okay -- and that he will be back again this autumn like usual. Every summer, our resident male bears disappear at this time of year as they travel far and wide to find food. Thus, I am trying not to worry about Milton. We probably won't see him again for a while even if he is fine.

You can watch the video here or at Youtube.

I'm sending good luck to Milton in his search for food. Most of our early bear foods failed due to crazy weather. However, some berries and many ant colonies are flourishing now so I hope that he can find all the calories that he needs!

23 comments:

  1. We hope Milton can find food and
    still manage to stay safe.
    Is there a river where he can fish
    close by?

    Astro

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There is a big creek nearby but I don't know how much black bears actually fish, like Grizzlies do. Black bears tend to rely more on berries, other fruits, nuts, seeds, and carrion.

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  2. watching him in he video he looks a lot like our dog jake when he lays in the middle of the carpet in the living room. he does the same scratching thing, it must feel good. it sure looks like it feels good to Milton. prayers for him to be ok

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  3. Milton sure does have the biggest paws!

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  4. Quite intimidating when Milton stand up!!!
    Nice catch!

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  5. He is such a handsome bear. I hope he lives a long and healthy life.

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  6. Milton, be careful out there big guy, we like seeing you!

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  7. Hari OM
    We just had a three-day broadcast from Alaska on the BBC, with live, here and now shots of all the activity around the salmon run. Kodiaks and other brown bears, black bears, wolves, orca, salmon sharks, humpbacks and their bubble nets. It was breath-taking... and so is this. Sending positive vibes to Milton from the Bonny Land! YAM xx

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  8. It's a wonder any trees reach maturity in Milton's territory! Best of luck to Milton on finding all the necessary food he needs for this winter.

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  9. Good luck Milton. Be safe and happy journeys. He is a big one!
    Lily & Edward

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  10. We always love seeing your bear photos and videos. We hope Milton finds all he needs to eat.

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  11. Milton looks like he's gonna need lots and lots of berries!

    Your Pals,

    Murphy & Stanley

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  12. Eat up well Milton, and store it away for your winter sleep.A very busy boy on the trail, Did I hear a plane, and then some water in a stream? He looks so healthy, and your trail cams seem to be spread a long way apart. And a huge spell in the middle of the day, maybe it did get quite warm.

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  13. Milton looks like he is a very content and healthy bear. We hope he made it westward safely. How we would have loved to hear that WHOOP!~!!

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  14. We hope Milton is fine and can find loads of food this summer. We would have loved to hear that Whoop.

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  15. We hope that Milton is A OK!
    hugs
    Hazel & Mabel

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  16. We sure hope Milton is safe and finding all the food he needs!
    Jan, Wag 'n Woof Pets

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  17. He is amazing! Those shots look like the ones of stuffed bears. How amazing!

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  18. Oh, I gots my paws crossed that Milton is okays. He is hilarious! I loved watchin' all the videos of him marking his trees. the weather has been so nuts, that I hopes he gets all the calories he needs. If he needs any extra fat, just lets me know, and I will give him some of mine....hehehe
    Kisses,
    Ruby ♥

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    Replies
    1. I don't think that you have any fat to spare, Ruby!

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  19. Hi, This is great & thank you for sharing! - Wondering what trail cam(s) you have? We would like to get one & the quality of this is excellent - does it have night vision also?

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  20. I have never come across a marking tree (though I may pass them all the time). I look for tracks in the mud but have never found hair caught on a tree. Milton is s Big Boy. Maybe he's traveling to visit me!

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  21. Wonderful to have a small view into this big boys life. I hope he is safe and well too.
    I love all the bird sounds on the videos, at around the 15 second mark on this video, there is, I assume, a bird call, do you know what it is? It sounds like 3 beeps.
    Kiersten :)

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