Bits of bruin lore...
Often when cruising Wallowa country
.. evidence of Brother Bear lies about
..... pale-bellied rocks in the meadow or
....... scratch marks about eight feet high
......... where an old male is "impressing an audience."
Certainly, "Bear does it in the woods..."
.. and leaves sign of his passing and timing,
..... and evidence of where and what he has been foraging.
....... Bear likes to bed at the base of big pines
......... for the nice dry bark and a place to not roll down the hill.
Sometimes, the presence of scratches
.. on tree bark tell stories of young bears
..... climbing trees, in multiples, perhaps
....... at mom's urging as a threat looms;
......... cows, people, wolves or lions.
Once, in a scattered ridgetop stand
.. I had dispersed an array of birdhouses
..... mitigating the effect of a recent timber harvest.
....... On return visit monitoring use,
......... I noted a bluebird box at the foot of its tree.
Closer examination told the story...
.. of several young bears
..... that had been climbing nearby trees
....... one of which, in descending a big fir,
......... found a handy seat on which to pause...
Although house wrens had filled that box
.. with sticks... it was not to nest
..... but to make the box not usable for nesting
....... by intruding wrens. It was easily
......... cleaned and re-installed... for returning bears.
--r.anderson 2Feb2011
