Nice Hiking Weather Starting! Bear Observations

 

The swamp pictured  above is an ideal location for camera trapping. No shortage of bears using this location.

Yesterday’s weather hiking was pretty good. It started out in the low fifties, but once the sun broke through it warmed up into the upper seventies fast. I hiked just over seven miles checking trail cameras and taking time to sit with my camera, hoping to catch a wandering bear. I did watch a distant eagle fishing with no success.

I keep track of the miles hiked with each outing.

With Isaias toppling many trees earlier this month in north central Massachusetts, it made for a number of bear den prospects. A blow down exposing tree roots makes for an ideal bear den. The picture above is a good example. 

Investigating, a sow with three cubs could easily fit comfortably in the back of this uprooted tree.

It’s been a good year capturing bears on trial cameras. I thought it would be interesting tabulating the video times to see if bears are more active day or night. The anecdotal study shows some interesting data. Over a five month period twelve to fifteen different bears (guess on my part) triggered camera traps in three different locations forty two times. The forty two data points suggest that 46% (19 of 42) of the bears were videoed between 6:00 AM – 12:00 Noon.

So, what’s all this mean LOL !

You’re more likely to see a bear in North Central Massachusetts during the daylight morning hours than you are any other time of the day.

Jim