Bear Activity Has Slowed Significantly

 

It’s been a good year camera trapping and learning about Massachusetts bears. Trail cameras captured more than six hundred videos over an eight-month period. Highlights:

-         Located a forth well-travelled bear corridor early last Spring,

-         Finding a bear nest https://youtu.be/OmizDVF7SI4 , two Baby Sitting trees along with a Whammy Tree

-         Cameras captured Sow’s with one, two and three COY, and  Sows with one two and three yearlings, for a minimum of six sows videoed this year with cubs.. No combination of four cubs were videoed like in 2022.

-         Twenty-six different bears were identified using  physical characteristics like scars , white chest patches , mange ( large bald spots) bent ears and physical size.

-         No loss of trail cameras – more people seen on TC’s than in any previous year. All cameras are located off the beaten path.

Its now mid-November and most bears have denned. Bear activity on TC’s has just about stopped with the exception of several bears. A sow with two yearlings has been on the move foraging on Winterberries. The nights are getting cold, won’t be long before that family of three den for the winter.

The mast crop in central Massachusetts was good this year. The attached video shows several bulked up bears. Any guesses on the weight of the single BIG Bear ? My gosh the bear waddles instead of walks. https://youtu.be/TuG0chOtJ8g

Jim

Visited North American Bear Center in Ely , MN

 

 My apologies for missing  a month of blog articles. My wife and I have been on a Midwest camping trip travelling four thousand miles through thirteen states. My plan was to update the blog weekly. A change in plans  with adding new destinations to our route came daily  logistics issues and finding open campgrounds.

 Our furthest destination was Ely Minnesota. There we visited The North American Bear Center. I was like a kid walking into a candy store! The facility had so much to offer. The layout was inviting with many bear exhibits and a small theater showing a winter bear den check. The displays and exhibits were  informative. The Bear Center, in short, was incredible, many pictures were taken, the bear center’s website does a better job showing what’s available.

https://bear.org/visit-us/hours-admission-location/

Unfortunately, the Wolf Center on the other side of town was not open the day we were there.

I’ve been out the last few days collecting SD cards and have lots of videos to review. A mild October and  mast crop of acorns have kept the bears busy foraging. I hope at least one trail camera videoed a respectable bull moose during the recent rut. https://youtu.be/myOALWgvotk

 

Jim

 

Pic above - Buck seen in VA State Forest

A recent visit to Shenandoah NP in Virginia was a bust ! We had made campground reservations long before Hurricane Helena. When we arrived at the campground, there was concern with the Shenandoah River flooding and the campground may need to evacuate. Would have been nice if we had been made aware of this several days prior. It all worked out with another local campground found at higher elevation. We took a ride along Skyline Drive in hopes of catching a break in the foggy wet weather. It  was not meant to be on this trip. 

 Lessons Learned

I would recommend using a road atlas in conjunction with Google Maps, There were occasions when Google Maps routed  us through tight back roads which had me concerned pulling the camper.

-         I assumed the campground where we made reservations would have contacted us prior with evacuation concerns . I should have been more diligent with inquiring about any issues / concerns prior to the trip.

Jim

Bear Activity In Two Locations Still Good

 

I still have two active areas with bears. Both locations had scent marking trees during the bear mating season ( mid-May through mid-June) A sow with two yearlings passed a camera trap last week. I can only assume the family of three were the same bear family videoed earlier in September. It is hard to believe ( at least for me) that the 2024 bear season is winding down. Another five or six weeks and most bears will have gone in for their long winters nap.

It’s been another good year learning about  bears, I’ll share the details once bears den later this fall.

 I’ve been thinking about winter camera trapping projects.  Not sure what they are yet , but you can be sure I’ll come up with some ideas.

 

Jim

Massachusetts Moose Rut

  

Moose are on the move in Massachusetts with the fall rut in full swing. Several cameras have recorded a few respectable bulls, but there are much bigger out there. I’m hoping to get a good daytime video of a majestic bull.

There are acorns everywhere! A far cry from last year’s acorn crop. I’m still finding plenty of concord grapes. I’m actually surprised given the bear traffic in some of these areas.

I was in new beaver habitat a few weeks ago that got me a bit pumped for new opportunities in 2025. I set up a few cameras and went back last week to explore some more. To my surprise the upper beaver dam let go sending volumes of water downstream, which breached the second dam. What were two beaver ponds two weeks ago are now mud flats. I did see a little beaver sign that might suggest a rebuild on the once larger pond. I’ll wait to late Oct. to check it out again.

Jim

Where Are The Bears

 

Where are the bears ? Find the seasonal food sources. Bears are now in a stage called hyperphagia. What that means is binge eating. Bears  need to fatten up  in the next few months before searching for a winter den. Right now, they are eating apples, grapes, nuts, and plants, such as Jewelweed. The video shows a young bear feeding on jewelweed as it crosses a beaver dam. https://youtu.be/AwAMspubGqw

Last week while checking a fisher camera trap set there were broken white oak  branches on the ground. You could see  where the branches had been ripped from the tree  and there were no acorns on them. The bark on the tree was disturbed ,and about seven feet up there were bear claw marks. This is a first for me, finding this type of bear sign. There is a fisher scent post a few feet away with a camera trap set. Might that  trail camera provide any information? Checking the SD card when I got home showed a young bear had visited this area numerous days  looking for  acorns beginning September 6^th. I set a camera trap watching the base of the oak tree. Hopefully, it will continue visiting.

                                        White Oak branch ripped from tree

Jim

Moose On The Move - Bears Foraging

 

Wow ! Trail Cameras were busy the last two weeks. They started picking up moose activity with the rut now in full swing, along with bears foraging. The cover pic is a young bear that was foraging on the beaver dam, then meandered over to the trail camera offering a unique video grab that I named “ Looking Through a Bears Eyes”  While checking my Fisher camera trap sets this week I encountered bear sign that I’ve never seen before. It was an interesting find. I’ll share it with you next week.

Jim