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Tuesday, December 11, 2018

A Bear Dances toward Hibernation

Most bears are snug inside dens at this time of year. However, at least one bear still is leaving tracks in our neck of the woods.

The most recent bear seen by my wildlife cameras was in late November. That bear was new to our area. He first appeared at a marking tree. He stood up to sniff the tree.
Look closely at the backs of his ears. You can see a light colored circle on the back of each ear. Those are ear tags. They indicate that this bear was caught misbehaving near humans. In all likelihood, he got into unsecured garbage or a bird feeder. Wildlife officials sedated him, put in ear tags, and relocated him to a new area. He will keep his ear tags for the rest of his life. Another episode of misbehavior will mean that he will be killed by wildlife officials.

That scenario seems about a million miles away when this bear is simply being a bear in the forest. After he sniffed the tree, the bear marked the tree but not the normal way. Rather than rubbing his back against the tree, he grabbed a branch to rub on his back without turning his back to the tree.

Soon, the bear was finished with that tree and walked toward the next one.

The next one was not far away. Our tagged bear marked this tree properly with his back to the tree and dancing as he rubbed his back all over the tree.

His next stop was a small pool of water that was mostly frozen on that night. He placed a paw on it as if to test how strong the ice was.

Soon, he turned around and began digging in the snow. We can't see what he was doing. However, when I was there, I saw that he nibbled on the remaining ground cover. It was a small snack.

Before he departed, he broke the ice and had a drink. You can see (and hear) that on the video that is a compilation of the clips of this bear at each spot.

16 comments:

  1. I hope he will find a warm and comfy cave to sleep during the cold and wet time...

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  2. Aw, how adorable. What great captures.

    Have a fabulous day and week. ♥

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  3. Gotta get that boogie out before sleep time!

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  4. I am so happy I found your blog, the videos of wildlife are so good, thanks!

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  5. We hope he finds a den to settle in soon and stays out of trouble!

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  6. Oh me my Bear friend...go find a den...stay out of trouble...I'm sorry some human left garbage unsecured..tempting you thus getting you in trouble.
    Hugs Cecilia

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  7. I can hear running water, so it is not frozen all the way, hope he has enough fat on him to take him through the winter.. hope he stays away from people and is safe.... I like how your camera can even pick up the crunch of snow when he walks in it

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  8. Sweet dreams to the beautiful bear!
    love
    tweedles

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  9. Oh, we hope the bear doesn't go back to his mischievous ways. Have a good long, sleep, Bear.

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  10. We hope the dancing bear heads in the right direction away from the mean humans and finds a cozy den for the long winter.

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  11. I hope this bear stays in the woods away from people and lives a lovely long bear life.

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  12. Your last couple of blogs I made Enzo stay in the other room while I read them! Giggle! I cant even say the word bear around him and he gets his binky and hides beside the bed! Poor baby! But as for me I love your blogs and videos! Love from our mountain to yours! Kathy and Enzo
    ❤️🐻❤️

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  13. He better find his den and stays out of trouble
    hugs
    Hazel & Mabel

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  14. I hope he stays out of trouble and finds a nice cozy den soon. Too often bears end up suffering consequences from bad behavior with human encounters.

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  15. We sure hope this guy stays out of trouble!!

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