So, I was walking back early one morning to my campsite when a black bear came wandering out of the site next to mine, ‘hey bear’ calls I and he stops dead in his tracks, turns and looks at me with the look of a little boy caught stealing cookies on his face, then he quickly heads off through the bush.  I met this little bear a few times during my short stay at this particular campsite recently and each time he would look startled almost as if asking ‘what are you doing in my campsite?’  He was quite a character and one of a number I have come across so far during the first half of my current field trip, including wolves, grizzly bears, beaver & eagles.  Tomorrow I head out back along the BC coast in search of spirit bears and humpback whales (not together!) and hope to be able to report further success upon my return towards the end of the month.

In the meantime, some black bear images can be seen here: black bears and more will be added upon my return.

Click to Enlarge Image

A black bear (Ursus americanus) of the BC coast looks up from his foraging along the shore to check us out before continuing on his way in search of food.  Until the salmon start to run on the coast black bears will often search along the shore in between tides looking for rock crabs, barnacles and muscles etc. to eat and with this they will add roots, sedges, grasses, insects, carrion, small mammals and berries plus one of their favourite’s the wild pacific crab apple.  Once the salmon run commences they will often be found on estuaries and in river systems chasing this much needed protein to fill their need of 20,000 calories per day, before winter sets in.