For three years I've photo-captured bears climbing this rubbing tree. It 's about 14 inches in diameter and leans a bit. Cubs zip up and down the trunk, even on the underside, and adults occasionally tackle it too. It was a tree made for an arboreal camera trap, and promised a head-on view of a bear shimmying closer to the camera.
After hauling my aluminum extension ladder to the site in two pieces, I bolted two cameras on a 1" pipe lag-screwed to the tree with a threaded flange. With neighbor Ted passing the tools to and fro the installation wasn't life threatening. Here's a bear's eye view as seen from near the base. The cameras (a Browning and a GoPro) are 11.5' from the base and a vertical drop of 12'.
I used to fit arboreal cameras with bungee cords. If an overly curious bear ripped a camera loose, the bungee would prevent a crash landing. Mischievous bears might play with a dangling camera, and could bite through the bungee cord, but a bungee could save the camera. Nowadays I believe most bears are loath to lose their grip while batting at a camera.Bears visited the site 18 times, but only three looked up at the camera, and only the camera inspector climbed the tree.
To see the video copy this link https://vimeo.com/463652759 and paste it in your finder.