Bear Fun in Autumn

In autumn, bears are heading toward dens. The sows who mated this year retreat to dens first. Then, the rest of the sows go to dens. The final bears to head into dens are the males.

Most years, Tiny, our biggest male bear, is up and about into late November or early December. Due to his injury, I think that he's already resting in a den this year.

We still have bears who are awake but they are lethargic. They don't dance very energetically while marking trees or go for swims. Their goal is to go into a den as fat as possible. One bear definitively wins the contest for the fattest bear. He's not very tall but he has a lot of fat reserves.

He was marking trees in early October.

Our rambunctious female yearling cub who had a distinctive blond stripe down her back was marking trees a little later in October, just after a snow storm. She then disappeared, likely snuggling into a den for the winter.

Another bear visited a pond on a snowy day and decided not to swim. She nibbled on grass and slurped some water before heading off.

I made a short video of the bears' fun in late September and early October. I am enjoying every instant of observing them because they will all be in dens before too long. I really miss them in the winter - unless one decides to use the den where I have a cam - and then we get to watch them all winter!