Thursday, August 2, 2018

Bathing at the Bear Wallow


Seasonal pools are often called bear wallows in northcentral Pennsylvania. They’re seasonal because they collect runoff from snowmelt and spring rains then gradually evaporate during summer’s hot weather. Some dry completely by late summer, others hold a small amount of water throughout the summer, normally the pools slowly accumulate more water as fall progresses and the cycle begins again.

They’re called bear wallows because black bears with their dark coats and large size are quite sensitive to summer’s heat and use these pools to cool off in hot weather by soaking in the water. 

For three summers I had a camera trap overlooking a seasonal pool in the Big Woods; some of the results were posted here.

This year I put a camera trap that takes videos at the same pool and it certainly lived up to the name of “bear wallow”. It's best to watch with the sound on –
There are videos of other species at the bear wallow, but those are the subject of another post.

4 comments:

  1. Loved the video and the bear's satisfied huffing during the refreshing dips.

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  2. Wow, cool video of the bear soaking in the water. It must enjoy cooling off in the water. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Happy Saturday, enjoy your weekend!

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  3. I'm so happy the wallow doesn't always dry up when it's close to 90. Well done, wallow, well done, bear. Very cool videos. The most I've seen are cows cooling off in the river, which is very funny if you're in a canoe.

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  4. Great footage! It was a delight getting to see him cool off!

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