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Monday, February 5, 2018

Memories of a bear giving birth to cubs with trail cams outside her den

A bit longer than 2 years ago, I had trail cameras positioned outside a bear den with a pregnant sow in it. I discovered her presence in December but I had no sign that she would give birth to cubs until she started pacing outside the den in late January.

She went back and forth. You can see the small opening to her den behind her to her left.

Three hours later, she was still pacing.

The sow paced all day and into the evening. She must have either been in labor or felt it coming on. I know from the sound of her cubs crying inside the den that she gave birth to 2 cubs in the wee hours of January 31st 2016. Of course, I had no trail cameras inside the den so it was a couple of months before we glimpsed the cubs outside the den.

I have a video of that exciting day and night from 2016. (Here is the Youtube Link).


2016 was the second winter that a bear occupied the den. The den is empty this year but I am hoping for another year with a bear family hibernating in it the future!

13 comments:

  1. she is so beautiful, that first shot of her face is wonderful, they sound like little pigs or even kittens, the babies i mean. amazing they have them in snow and ice and they survive.

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  2. So fun to know they are healthy. Too bad she isn't in the den again this year.

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  3. I remember when you originally posted this. It is a great story

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  4. We remember this! Those cubs sure have a healthy set of lungs!

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  5. That is so awesome! What a wonderful thing to have on camera, even without the actual birth it is fascinating.

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  6. Oh my word this is truly amazing.
    I don't mean to sound uninformed, I was amazed the cubs were born during hibernation period when still snow etc. I guess I knew cubs came out with mom in the spring but never thought about when they were born. Wonderful pictures and video
    Hugs madi and mom

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  7. Oh yes, we do remember that Mom and her cubs. We loved listening to all the sounds coming from the cave and then the antics of those two cubs. We hope that all happens again soon.

    Woos - Lightning, Misty, and Timber

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  8. We remember this!!!
    hugs
    Hazel & Mabel

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  9. We remember those cubs....we hope there'll be another family this year....2018.

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  10. That is so cool! I didn't realize they gave birth when it was still so snowy and cold out.

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  11. This was such a wonderful experience to be able to see, I enjoyed seeing it again.

    Kiersten

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  12. This is the coolest story ever!
    love
    tweedles

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