After a few months away from this location, I recently returned and reset a trail camera pointing at the small seep-filled pool. Since it has been so dry, despite some monsoon rains, I was hoping this spot would attract wildlife like it had in previous years. This morning I checked the camera and as it turns out, just yesterday there was a fun visit by a sow and her cub. Notice in the first clip of them, the mother bear pulls her cub into the water, encouraging her to swim.
Tag: bear
A bear cub, deer fawns, and ring-tailed cats
This morning I checked a series of trail cams I’ve set up at water sources in a drainage in the mountainous desert near Tucson. These spots have, usually, held water throughout the hot dry season before monsoon rains are due. This year the monsoon rains have been few and far between in this area so these water sources have been a very important resource for local wildlife.
Bears being bears
It’s the time of year in Arizona when the temps are hot and the black bears are always happy to find a watering hole, either to drink or wallow. The following three videos are from the last few weeks during one of the hottest and driest periods this summer.
A black bear marks trees and inspects a camera
The bear scat trail cam site (see previous post about the mama bear and her scat) has continued to be active, most recently with male black bears coming through and marking two different trees and smelling the old scat. I have two trail cams there now, both on trees that are not bear marking trees. Recently, a curious bear decided to check out one of the cameras. This isn’t the first time a bear decided to mess with one of my cameras, but no damage was done and it shows how curious and aware bears are of their surroundings.
Two bears and a mountain lion
Two bears and a mountain lion passed by this cam in the span of three hours. At 4:08 p.m. a mountain lion makes a scrape. At 5:37 p.m. a big black bear goes by and smells the fresh scrape. At 6:42 p.m. the mountain lion returns and makes another scrape. At 7:06 p.m. a smaller black bear walks by and stops to smell the fresh scrape. I find it fascinating how close in time these two wild predators came to running into each other.
Bear sign and wallow
This morning I checked a few cameras in an area where bears have been active over the last few years. Bears have likely been visiting this spot for ages before I placed cameras there. The first clue of recent activity were new tracks and marks at an old bear marking tree. The second was murky water in the spring pool and wet vegetation nearby.
This bear seems to have a new injury to his left ear. It must be brutal out there. The stories he could tell… This will also help in IDing this guy if/when he shows up again.
Black bear action
The bear marking tree had some new visitors this week. While I was hoping to see the two yearling cubs again, the camera captured a different fun surprise, a sow with three new cubs (first video). The videos from the previous visit appeared to indicate via sounds that the two older cubs from the other bear family may have tried to climb a tree next to the camera, so last week I placed a second camera looking at that tree. The next surprise was a male bear using that tree as a marking tree (second video).
Bear cubs inspect trails cameras
It look like this is the same bear family as the scat video from a couple weeks ago, even though the cameras are a few miles apart:
Black bear bath time
About two years ago I found an old, abandoned cattle trough that still held water. I realize now that it is an old spring box that still receives water from a nearby spring. The good thing is, it stays full of water during the Arizona dry season (between the winter rains and summer monsoons) and so is an important water source for local wildlife during times of water scarcity. For bears, water is not just a resource to drink, but also to wallow in and relax:
Do bears sh*t in the woods? This video answers that question
A few weeks ago I found some bear tracks and a marking tree and decided to set up a trail cam and see what action it might capture. At the very least I was hoping to catch a bear simply walking by. After a week, I checked the camera and here’s what it captured:
A few days after the sow and her cubs passed by the camera site, this big male bear came through. He almost missed the scat pile, but then noticed it:
My Earth 