Ecologist Susan Harrison has contributed some photos of bears, owls, and other critters in an “October Surprise” contribution. Susan’s captions and IDs are indented, and you can enlarge her photos by clicking on them.
October Surprises
…no, not the political kind…
Rounding a corner on a recent hike near Ashland, OR, I was startled to come face-to-face with a Black Bear (Ursus americanus). She glared and began walking toward me, while her half-grown cub rustled among the dry leaves downslope of the trail. Lowering my eyes, I backed away, and when she stopped advancing I managed a few photos. She eventually retreated to the trailside and watched me and a mountain biker pass by, evidently convinced of our harmlessness.
Black Bear:
This bear’s habitat and one of its chow sources, the berries of Madrone (Arbutus menziesii):
Until then, the most charismatic creature I saw recently was a Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia), hanging around a set of artificial owl burrows on some conserved grasslands near Davis, CA. These little owls typically usurp the homes of Ground Squirrels (Spermophilus beecheyi). To boost owl numbers, people have taken to constructing owl burrows using cinderblocks, PVC pipe and other materials. Constructed burrows don’t always attract owls, and it was especially surprising to see this lone owl at the burrows in the non-nesting season. He or she alternated hiding in the tall grass and popping out to perch briefly on fences, all the while keeping an eye upward for hawks.
Burrowing Owl:
A lesser but still enjoyable surprise this fall was that our yard received two “first ever for the yard” visitors, a Cassin’s Vireo (Vireo cassinii) and a Lincoln’s Sparrow (Melospiza lincolnii).
Cassin’s Vireo:
Lincoln’s Sparrow:
Very early one morning when my cats had persuaded me to let them outside, a slightly menacing surprise was a Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) parked on top of the neighbor’s tree, singing away and presumably waiting for small to medium-sized mammals. We went indoors.
Great Horned Owl:
On a brief visit to friends in Bellingham, WA, black squirrels were an unexpected sight. These are melanistic Eastern Gray Squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) that were introduced to this area around 1900. Per Wikipedia, a single dominant mutation causes both their color and higher cold tolerance. I think they are rather beautiful.
Bellingham black squirrel:
Another signature set – wow!
I especially like the Burrowing Owl — cute. We have a lot of Black bears at our place in the Coast Range. They are reasonably shy. We also have some old apple trees. The bears come around at night for the apples, pruning the trees in their own special way and leaving piles of beer scat that resembles very lumpy apple sauce w/ peels. We’re careful to never leave anything outside suggestive of food — nothing at all, so their visits are seasonal and focused on the apples. They know when each tree is ripe and prefer the tastiest (to us) apples, but there’s always plenty for us if we pick our share promptly. There was on occasion when a (half-grown?) bear came around in broad daylight to feast on cleavers — Gallium arpine that sometimes grows in abundance.
For cute little owls we enjoy the Northern Pygmy Owl, widespread in the region.
Wonderful photos!
I am so glad you convinced the bear that you meant no harm!
Stay safe!
Yes indeed, Susan….years ago on the Pacific Crest Trail, just outside the Stanislaus National Forest, we rounded a corner at the top of a pass and saw a bear and her cub at a salt lick a couple of hundred yards away. It was lunchtime, and not wanting to be her lunch, we quietly backed up around the corner and a quarter mile or so downhill and settled in to an hour lunch. When we resumed our hike, she had gone. But it sure gets your attention! Glad you are ok.
I’m amazed that your bear pictures aren’t a blur. How did you keep your hands steady during that scary encounter?
And the Bellingham Black Squirrel is beautiful. I’ve never seen one and I’m only about an hour away from Bellingham. Here, where I live, it’s Eastern Gray Squirrels vs. our native Douglas Squirrels. The latter are much smaller, much chattier, and fairly comfortable around people, but Grays seem to outcompete them for food and resources. I’ve seen both species on the same fence (our back yard) at the same time. They love to use fence tops as roadways.
Thank you for the pictures!
Shaky hands and hurrying ruined my pictures of the cub, I will freely admit 🙂
Good for you for keeping your head seeing a bear mom and cubs. Great photos of the bear head-on. It’s very thrilling and scary to see them in the wild up close.
I once saw a bear when I was walking down a path with my eyes looking down and not paying attention. She had 2 cubs behind her. I ran with my back to the bear screaming “a bear!!!”
The bear probably just thought I was crazy and went on her way with 2 cubs in tow.
She was maybe 15 feet away.
Excellent photos, thanks for sharing these.
I have had many encounters on the trail with black bears. When I was young, we were usually the first ones on the trail in the morning for climbing. Every single time, when the bear became aware of me, it was gone like a shot. They can move very fast.
I lived in the Pacific NorthWest and had many encounters with bears. You did exactly the right thing with this black bear.
One of the most charming (and closest) encounters I had was on a road outside of Stehekin Washington (if you know Stehekin, you know what the one road there is like). A friend shouted “A bear!” Looking up into the mountain on the side of the road, I said; “Where?”
“Right there!”, as she pointed to a bear not five feet from us on the side of the road. If I reached out I could have touched her. I was so shocked, I hadn’t seen her until that moment.
But she was in bliss, sitting flat on her butt, hind legs splayed out and both arms full of Elderberry branches she’d pulled down from the tree above. The branches were absolutely exploding with Elderberries and bright purple stains all over her face and chest was evidence we’d encountered a happy, contented, un-afraid of monkeys, supremely lovely black bear having her favorite feast.