Oh, I miss seeing the bears that usually roam through the yard. American Black Bears (Ursus americanus). Their population has dropped drastically the past few years due to mange, a type of serious skin disease caused by parasitic mites.
The yard seemed to be a highway for them. They typically chose marking trees or marking poles along one of their favorite paths to leave their scent, while rubbing, clawing and biting the tree or pole. No matter their age or sex, but most often mature males do the marking, during mating season.
2 responses to “Marking Trees, Marking Poles”
How unfortunate, I didn’t realize mange affects bear like other animals. That’s sad to see the decline. It doesn’t seem to affect the population in Maryland, as their hunting season resumed.
Hi Anita,
I’ve had a difficult time finding anything definite about the mange problem but from what I can see, it might be at its worst right here where I am. I am just hoping that with time things will get back to normal. In the meantime, I’m seeing way more White-tailed Deer. I’m told by the hunters in the area that Black Bears and WT Deer tend to stay away from each other.
Thanks bunches for reading my daily posts!
Bren