paws and claws

[DesertBull]

[Jimmer Negamanee]

Cool! Thanks for posting.

[bonecollector]

Nice pics thanks for sharing. Looks like some nice paw prints there in the mud.

[Mr. Jonathan]

that's sweet getting the bear and cat prints in the same photo

[WOODSAZ]

That Cat pic is very cool. What cam is that? Thats got some distance on it.

 

Jay

[DesertBull]

run of the mill Moultie camera.

[kidso]

Cameras seem to be kind of low for bear, expecially without ripe prickly pear yet. Any scat nearby? Was the bear grazing on the grass? That's along way to go for just water and grass. Any idea on the food draw to pull the bear that low?

[DesertBull]

Cameras seem to be kind of low for bear, expecially without ripe prickly pear yet. Any scat nearby? Was the bear grazing on the grass? That's along way to go for just water and grass. Any idea on the food draw to pull the bear that low?

 

This area holds bear all year long. It is low (mostly juniper, scrub oak and mesquite) but is very close (~1 mile) to higher elevations with pines and oaks. You can't tell it from the pics but this area is very rugged.

 

Right now they are gorging on manzanita and some mesquite beans. There are a TON of pears, but they are very green right now. The pears down even lower in the palo verde and mesquite are starting to turn. There are quite a few deer in this area too and I'm sure they are dropping fawns pretty soon.

 

[AZLance]

All of the bears I have been seeing are low right now. Eating Mesquite beans, and a little grass... (about 4000')

[kidso]

Very interesting, that bears hit the mesquite beans. I've always hunted them in the manzanita and acorn thickets. Only once did I go after bears in the prickly pears, but even that was near the 5000 foot elevation. I've seen javelina and deer in the mesquite beans, so I guess there is one more species to add to it!

 

I've personally witnessed bears devouring unripe green manzanita berries and unripe green acorns. Have any of you observed them visually or found scat evidence of bears eating unripe green prickly pear fruit?

[catclaw]

No to the green prickly pear, in fact, I watched a big boar eating on some pears one year and he tested each one before he bit them off- I went to the bush he was eating on before he got himself shot and there were several pears with puncture marks that weren't quite ripe enough- Kinda like me picking out a water melon at Superstition Ranch Market- thumping them to test for ripeness...