Bear in Shenandoah National Park

My trip to Shenandoah National Park last June was the "year of the Bear" for sure!  In Three days we saw 21 bear just driving between Skyland and the Big Meadows.  Here are some of the pictures I was able to capture. 

 

 

Little guy right along the road within yards of our room.

 

 

 

This larger bear walked right out of the woods and across the road in front of us

 

 

While walking Limberlost Trail this handsome fella was turning over logs and stones looking for a morsel of food

 

We saw this bear on one side of a building and as we drove by ......

 

A deer on the other side...

 

Some just wouldn't look at us   ...  camera shy

Others more than glad to pose.

 

To God be the Glory  ~~  Great Things He Hath Done

 

 



Shenandoah National Park June 2014

I would say this is the year of the Black Bear in Shenandoah National Park.  We kept track of the number of bear and these were the numbers for 3 days of riding around and looking.  We counted 5 cubs and 15 adult and yearlings . Most years we are lucky to see even one.

 

 How Challenging photographing  black bears. They never want to look at you....

 And when they do they are in behind the ferns

   or walking away

You can't get your settings right because of low light in the forest

Or you see a big one and it's between  rock and a tree!

 A sow was foraging and three of her cubs were just running wild.Can you find the two in the ferns in this picture?

  This was probably a big male because sows only go between 100 and 175 pounds where males can weigh in at 300

 This was a small cub foraging alone..  He would NOT lift his head.  It was early morning and he was soaking wet from the dew.

 The bear population is estimated between 500 - 700 in the Park

 Sows become sexually mature at age 3 or 4-- mating in mid-summer

 The embryo does not develop until she dens in the fall and she carries the cub (s) for 6 weeks

 A cub weighs about 8 ounces and is hairless with eyes closed when born

Twins are common but four is not uncommon

Even though I was not happy with my photography skills I am happy about how many bears I saw and how easy they were to find.

To God be the Glory  ~~Great Things He hath Done