12 of 13

As hunting seasons begin and more people are out in the forest, it was time to retrieve my camera traps from the Big Woods. When I checked the memory card that had been in the camera trap overlooking the bear wallow there was a large number of black bear photos. This vernal pool, where the bears come to wallow in the water, is surrounded by a grove of older white oak trees which had a bumper crop of acorns this fall. Bears seeking to put on fat for their winter sleep had been gorging on the acorns and frequently visited the wallow. The camera had gotten bear photos on 12 of 13 consecutive days – a sampling:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

Day 11

Day 12

Day 13