Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2010/10/09
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I spent much of the last week near Lake Tahoe, at a creek where Kokanee Salmon were running upstream to spawn. The local Black Bears had discovered the salmon run and were feasting on the fish to put on weight for their winter sleep. The Black Bear (Ursus americanus) is the smallest of the bears typically found in North America, and despite its name its fur can be a variety of colors from black to almost white. The Black Bear is less aggressive than the Grizzly Bear, and since the species evolved at a time when several large land predators such as Dire Wolf, Saber-tooth Cat and Grizzly Bear were preying on it, the Black Bear thinks of itself as a prey species. The Black Bear is fully capable of inflicting serious injury to humans but because it thinks of itself as a prey species most often it will run rather than attack. On several occasions during the week I encountered Blondie and BooBoo, mother and cub, and over the course of these encounters she learned that I was not interested in eating her or her cub, and I learned that as long as nobody threatened her cub she was no threat to people. Blondie: http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490124.jpg http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490216.jpg http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490221.jpg http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490224.jpg http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490235.jpg BooBoo: http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490071.jpg http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490239.jpg http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1500003.jpg At the beginning of the week it was clear that BooBoo was still very dependent on Blondie for food. http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490188.jpg http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490079.jpg http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490369.jpg Blondie is a good hunter: http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1500034.jpg http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1500044.jpg http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1500050.jpg http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490209.jpg http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490098.jpg She demonstrated a clear preference for female salmon, frequently catching a male then tossing it aside when she found it didn't contain roe. http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490361.jpg (male salmon) http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490310.jpg (female salmon) Another bear was attracted to the creek one day. This bear has an injured or missing right eye: http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490256.jpg choices, choices: http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490285.jpg One Eye gets a fish: http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490249.jpg Once Blondie and BooBoo showed up, One Eye ran off. Don't mess with a mother bear. Life for a bear isn't all fishing. BooBoo declares play time: http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490148.jpg http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490135.jpg http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490141.jpg http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490143.jpg By the end of the week BooBoo was doing his own fishing: http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490331.jpg http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490197.jpg technical stuff: R8/DMR 280mm f/4 APO & 180mm f/2.8 APO shoulder stock & monopod with 280, shoulder stock alone with the 180. Any weird colors are my responsibility. All comments welcome. Doug Herr Birdman of Sacramento http://www.wildlightphoto.com