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Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Mama bear and cub happy to be out of their den

It's bear observation season again. That makes me so happy.

I have been hoping to see our bear family from last summer, Mohawk and her two cubs. They have not appeared yet but another little bear family did.

It was a new-to-me sow with a white "V" on her chest. She has one cub with her, and he's a rambunctious little rascal. Vee spent a lot of time checking a bear marking tree, probably in preparation for mating season.

After mom finished checking out the tree, her cub climbed it to sniff as high as his mom did.

It's that tough-love time of year when Vee will need to send her cub off on his own prior to mating season. The cub is old enough to fend for himself although it will be a tough transition for him. Vee should start "social distancing" him in the next few weeks.

When he is gone, she'll be visiting these marking trees trying to find male bears. These trees are pickup joints for bears.

Indeed, just a few days after Vee and her cub were at a tree, a male bear arrived to mark the tree. He was quite vigorous about it so I am betting that he smelled Vee.

Check out the video if you have time. If you watch closely, you'll be able to see the "V" on the mother bear's chest. I love watching bears!


20 comments:

  1. I can feel the joy of the bears... maybe we feel the same when this difficult times are over and we can leave our dens without fears...

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  2. That tree is so popular, and the cub, quite determined to climb as fare as he could, the V is quite distinct, love her name.

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  3. Love the male bear at the end. He marked - left - and came back☺ The bears are so much fun to watch!

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  4. Did you see the little thing in the sow's left ear? Maybe a simple metal ear tag? I can't tell.

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    1. I didn't see it until you pointed it out. At the very end of when she's in the frame, it looked like it moved in the wind... so maybe it was something like a pine needle or feather? I hope that we see her again to check it out. It's odd that she's here now (saw her again 4 days later but not close up) but was invisible last year. I wonder where the core of her territory is. Thanks for pointing out the ear thing.

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  5. What a great video of the bear family. We hope all goes well for the little one when separation time comes.

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  6. By following this blog, Bertie and I are learning so much about the habits of bears, and loving every minute of it!
    Cheers, Gail.

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  7. Aw, so precious. You live is such a wonderful place.

    Have a fabulous day. ♥

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  8. That little cub scout doesn't look ready to be on his own yet.

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  9. That 'V' marking is so cool! Love how the male marked the tree twice. It was as if he was leaving a P.S. for her!

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  10. Mom is a good teacher and the cub is certainly paying close attention.
    Hugs Cecilia

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  11. Great to watch the bears - that has to be one very resilient tree!

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  12. Oh, we are so thrilled to see a new bear video!!! That cub looks like he is going to be a big boy. We did see the Vee:) And we got a chuckle out of your reference to the pickup joint:)

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  13. Who is going to tell them they need to wear masks?

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  14. I've learned a lot from you about bear behavior. Thank you! I did not know why so many of our small trees were broken until I saw your videos. Vee is beautiful as is her cub. And what a handsome male, noticed his stomp. I hope that he and Vee get together and make some babies.

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