Wow!  A bit chilly this morning. It’s “0” degrees with a -22 wind chill factor OUCH!!

I decided to stay in this morning and catch up on some things. I did hike 8.5 miles yesterday checking trail cameras. It was a beautiful day for hiking with temps reaching the mid- thirties.

Trail camera activity was slow but I did get a surprise. My first January bear!  It appears to be a yearling that hasn’t quite figured out its time to den. My guess that it’s still out in about because it has found a sustainable food source. I have not found a pile of bear scat with any sunflower seeds in it. So maybe it’s the abundant acorn crop or this bear just hasn’t figured it out yet. With below zero temperatures this weekend and a wet snowy day coming on Monday, just might make this bear think about finding a den.

So, along with getting a January bear video, there was enough snow for it to leave tracks. I took the opportunity and followed the tracks backwards to see what I might learn. The bear located a new bank beaver lodge and stood directly on top of it looking for food, I’m sure the aroma of beaver castor caught its attention. Continuing tracking the bear, it took me to a second beaver pond. There it looked into a bank beaver tunnel where a beaver deposited a scat pile at the tunnel entrance, again no food opportunities. Continuing backtracking the bear crossed a hardwood ridge covered with about an inch of snow blanketing any acorns. I broke off from the bear tracks at this point.

It was a very good day tracking and hiking.

(3) Different bobcat tracks

(1) Bear track

(1) Moose track

5/6 coyote tracks

Many deer tracks

Bear track along a beaver pond

Beaver Scat - Bear checked tunnel entrance 

 

Jim