Sunday, March 18, 2012

Bear Family: One Year Later?

Do you remember this little black bear family from last spring?  They first showed up in April 2011, surprising and delighting all of us who live on the street. The cubs would scamper up trees, frolic and play, always under the watchful eye of the big Mama bear.













The last time I saw them was in late April, though I occasionally heard of sightings from neighbors on and off during the spring. But the reports became less frequent as spring turned to summer. I suspect that as food became more plentiful, they headed back up into the mountains.  

Looking at a Google Earth view of my property, the front of the house faces the rest of the neighborhood, and just on the other side of that a busy four lane road with restaurants, strip malls, etc. Behind the house, heading up the mountain, you see the occasional small road or two, but after that nothing but wilderness as it spreads out into the land owned by the government for the Blue Ridge Parkway. I used to marvel that there was so much wildlife here, in the city limits, a stone's throw from a busy commercial street. But I believe the bears, coyotes, and other critters wander down here from the park service lands up above.

So look who showed up here last week...



Is this the same family? It seems likely. I bet they remember from one year to the next which houses have the best birdseed!


The Mama bear ate with the youngsters for just a moment or two, then wandered over to the neighbor's yard just on the other side of the trees, stopping briefly to scratch her back on a tree. The she sat down and kept a lookout while the cubs ate for another 10 minutes or so. 


(The sun was rising right into my camera, getting good photographs was difficult!)


Look how big they are! Could these youngsters be only a year old? My brief research online this morning turned up photos of yearlings that look much smaller. Then again, the articles I found say that the mother bear stays with her cubs until June or July of their second year. So perhaps they are very well fed, chubby yearlings! What do you think? Does anyone have any expertise on the topic of baby bears? 

Big babies??

11 comments:

  1. Wow spectacular!! (& scary!) you must be on the alert for mama & toddlers with your dogs!!! They are huge!

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  3. Beautiful 3 bears...now where is that Goldie Locks?
    Snuggles,
    Benny & Lily

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  4. OH MY GOSH...I cannot imagine the thrill you must have seeing such sight in your back yard. Truly amazing. Those youngsters have a very good Mom who has cared for and lovingly taught them all they need to know to succeed on their own. What do the pups think of the smell mail left behind by the Thrilling Trio?
    Hugs Madi and Mom

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  5. wow, those bears looks awesome, they are so big but I'm sure they are lovely bears like us LOL! Great photography


    Dog Shock Collar | Puppy & Human Bond

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  6. Wow they are pretty big to be yearlings! I'm certainly no expert but they look older than one year to me, their faces look more mature. How exciting to watch them in your neighborhood though! Just west of us, the folks living in the foothills have encounters with bears, mountain lions, and loads of deer. Deep in suburbia, we have urban foxes, raccoons, coyotes and rabbits, but nothing as exciting as this!

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  7. Very cool...we've had Mama and baby on our deck, raiding the bird feeders!

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  8. Wow! Just amazing! And scary too! The Mama bear are big.

    I would love to see the image of your property from the Google Earth. Times ago I post on my blog the image of my house and the Jurumirim Dam.

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  9. Beautiful photographs...we haven't been able to capture pictures of our "raiders" yet. Started about 2 weeks ago.

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  10. Great pics. Told some friends today about this!

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