Bear TracksApril 29, 2024
On rainy days in spring, while the rain is washing any tracks away as soon as they are made,
the place to look is in puddles! These bear tracks indicated that the bear walked right down
the middle of a fairly deep puddle in the rain. We back tracked the animal into the forest and
found that this bear was pretty relaxed before we got there, following smells and meandering
around sniffing.
Bears
May 6, 2024
Trailing bears in the spring is an educatioin in procuring food. Bears eat a huge variety of things, many different things in the same day, until they find a prolific food source. The bear we trail this time of year is very fond of Hawkweed, and this plant is just coming up in some of the lower elevations. It seems like they don't eat things until they are in prime shape and they like Hawkweed to be about four inches high. In the meantime, the bear we followed yesterday demolished the top of an ant hill after he dug up some roots to eat. A few days ago he was messing about in a new patch of false Helebore, which is a toxic plant, but then it looks like bears also chase after rough skinned newts, also toxic. They only seem to do this in the spring. The study of what bears eat is a huge one. Because each habitat is completley different, each bear needs to learn not only what to eat, but when it's best to eat that particular thing. Just like your own garden, a bear knows his or her area well enough to be where the good things are when they are ready.
June 21, 2024
Salmonberry flower
Solstice, the time of the most sun, is when the animals move to higher elevations to take advantage of the fresh new, nutritious growth. Yesterday we visited a forest that has been burned twice; once in 2020 and again in 2021, The recovery of plants is vibrant and intense, but the whole habitat will take time to return. While sitting quietly near the twice burned trees, we could here a low murmuring like water. As we concentrated on the sound, it became something else. Jane says she's heard it before. It was new to me. The sound of thousands of beetles eating the dead trees. It was mesmerizing. The human caused fires are recovering, but we need to leave it alone and be patient.
"Are bears dangerous?" This was the question that started the quest for the author, which ended with her being a guide at a bear viewing lodge in Alaska for four summer seasons. Her first book, Lonesome for Bears, is the story of facing fears and diviing into learning about bears, including how to track them. The book describes a population of brown/grizzly and black bears who frequent a salmon stream in summer year after year. Bears, moose, wolves, eagles, foxes and every other Alaskan animal also live where the salmon thrive. The question that started the quest is answered, along with some startling new ways to think about all bears and their interactions and behaviors.
Her second book, Lonesome for Wilderness, was born out of a discovery that the real valuable things in life can be gained by being comfortable and engaged in the wild. The author dared to "step out alone" and find the natural world. After years in Search and Rescue and traveling the backcountry on her own, she wants to share a way of learning, enjoying and being comfortable in the wild.
Her second book, Lonesome for Wilderness, was born out of a discovery that the real valuable things in life can be gained by being comfortable and engaged in the wild. The author dared to "step out alone" and find the natural world. After years in Search and Rescue and traveling the backcountry on her own, she wants to share a way of learning, enjoying and being comfortable in the wild.
