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Native Californian, biologist, wildlife conservation consultant, retired Smithsonian scientist, father of two daughters, grandfather of 4 small primates. INTJ. Believes nature is infinitely more interesting than shopping malls. Born 100 years too late.

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Does the wild bear soak in the creek?



Indeed she does, and you can't blame her. It's been hot here, and bear baths seem to be more about cooling off than personal hygiene.

Like . . . "Ahhhh...this sure feels good."

The bears here rarely bathe at night. Their visits to this creek, now just a series of pools, have been in the morning, around noon, or in late afternoon.

Last week I changed memory sticks in the creek cam, and found that three bears had visited the pool.

If you'll indulge my anthropomorphism, this selection from 27 pictures on August 1 tells the best story.

It was 12:40 PM when the camera woke up and started taking pictures. She was just settling in the pool.

After her initial luxuriation, she drank deeply of her bath water. (This is not recommended.)



"Oh no, there's that damn camera flashing at me again. Oh well. I'll ignore it for now. I can always check it out later."



"Wait a minute! What's that? I heard something . . ."



"Waaaahhhh! I'm outta here!"

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow!

So cool, it's not even funny ...
Congratulations on these catches, and thanks for sharing ...

ojb

Anonymous said...

By the way ...
How do you know it's a she? (Please pardon my ignorance ...)

Just by the look of her face?

ojb

Camera Trap Codger said...

Don't you find her rather feminine looking? (LOL) Actually, I know this bear from many photos, and in some of her less modest poses she's left no doubt about it. (She is also the mother of the large cub I have referred to as Scruffy in some of the other posts--though they don't hang around together any longer).

And thanks for the comment!

Anonymous said...

Ah ha!

Somehow I had an inkling you had kept some pictures for yourself (-:

But not being the biologist that you are, I thought I'd ask first ...

ojb

PS: Yep, I do find her feminine looking!

Jackie said...

It's those girlish ears. Perky and upright...
What a fantastic set of pictures!

dguzman said...

WOW! Great photos, especially the last one!

Your blog is wonderful!

Owlman said...

Thanks again Chris for your continuing adventures with your camera trap and for these rare and wonderful shots of a bear bathing in the afternoon heat. I can't wait for the book.