Bears – Tendrils

American Persimmons

American Persimmons (Diospyros virginiana). They seem to be everywhere up here now. The fruit growing into a small orb with a soft green color. Dropping from their branches as they ripen.

Those little fruits are tempting bears, if any bears are around here now. It’s something that bears really enjoy eating if one can tell by examining bear scat. You’ll find Persimmon seeds if you look.

Color warming from that soft green to yellow-orange. Sweetening as they ripen.

Once they’re ripe the Persimmons are a warm orange color and will begin dropping to the ground. Not only tempting bears but also butterflies that are fond of slurping on rotting fruit. Butterflies such as Question Marks, Commas, Red Admirals and Painted Ladies.

The bark of American Persimmon has large blocky patches which to me resembles an enlarged version of Flowering Dogwood bark.

As the common name implies, American Persimmon is native to much of the eastern United States from southern New England, throughout the southeastern United States, and west to Kansas and Texas. It’s in the Ebony family and has a heartwood that is almost black.

Where Are My Bears?

Labor Day Weekend is just days away. Considered by many to be the end of summer. But there has been something lacking in my summer here in the mountains. Bears.

They arrive all set to eat all the apples out of the apple tree or the all the cherries out of the cherry tree. Breaking branches as they climb. I quickly get a few photos then chase them away. Waving my arms wildly and screaming at them. We have a thing going. They go away till the next time.

Early this spring a bear did show up. A dear, pathetic bear, badly suffering with sarcoptic mange. He looked miserable. Skin and bones, very little fur. I called wildlife officials and reported the sighting and was asked to call again if the bear returned. It did not return.

Since then there have been no bears. Extremely unusual. They always come into the yard and climb the apple tree, and the cherry tree.

I have mixed feelings about their arrival. They shouldn’t be here in the yard. Near humans. I always make them realize that they are not welcome. They have all the rest of the mountain to roam. But they always return. I get my photos and chase them away. Again and again. But not this year.

I assume the lack of bears is due to this mange. It causes hair loss, emaciation, loss of vision, and death. I see very little about the mange and black bears in the news. Just a slight mention here or there. Nothing to indicate my lack of bears. Just my assumption. I miss my bears. I hope I’m wrong about the mange.

Pressing My Luck – Bears

Every year it is always the same. I take great pleasure in feeding the birds and would do it all year long except there is the Bear (Ursus americanus) issue. They come out of their winter slumber focused on finding a quick meal. Though not the repast that would totally fill a several hundred pound bear, a chance encounter with a bird feeder would certainly be a great tidbit.

If and when a bear comes upon a bird feeder it will certainly think it is put out for bears. The bear may sit there and dismantle the feeder in a bear-like manner, totally destroying it in the process. OR the bear may venture into the woods with the prize. The snack to be eaten far from where it was found. Again that feeder will be demolished. Bears aren’t gentle.

The first sighting of a bear is my signal. A stop the bird feeding signal. I want my family to be safe and I want the bears’ families to be safe as well. Better that they don’t come by for handouts.

Downy Woodpecker

The Downy Woodpecker, Picoides pubescens. A permanent resident here and in most places in their native range. That range, with the exception of the desert southwest and the tundra of the north, is nearly all of Canada and the United States. But in the northern portions of their territory, some may wander a bit south for the winter. Or if in the higher elevations may come to a lower elevation.

A female Downy Woodpecker has no red, only black and white

They are little woodpeckers. In fact, they are the smallest woodpecker native to North America. The size of a White-throated Sparrow. Little. Downy Woodpeckers are nearly identical to the Hairy Woodpecker, who is about the size of an American Robin. NOT little. Keep that in mind when you see one of these black and white beauties. I’m accustomed to seeing the Downy Woodpecker, and on the occasion that I see a Hairy Woodpecker, the size difference is enough to make me say, “Whoa!” For me, there is no mistaking one from the other, the size difference is quite striking.

Another difference that you might find helpful is the size of their bill. The Downy Woodpecker’s bill about 1/3 the size of its head. Think CUTE. The Hairy Woodpecker’s bill is about the same length as its head, from the base of the bill to the back of the head.

Though Downy Woodpeckers mainly eat insects, beetle larvae and caterpillars, they also eat berries, acorns, peanuts, sunflower seeds and grains. During the winter, when I’m able to feed the birds, Downies are frequently at the suet feeder.

During the warmer months the bears up here in the mountains, want to join in with the birds, getting their food, so I restrict my bird feeding, reluctantly, to the winter.

But I keep three bird baths full, one with a dripper. Without feeding them I still get to see the best of the warm weather birds. Pure delight.

Tufted Titmouse

A bird that doesn’t migrate. Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) is a bird that comes to my feeders during all seasons. Well, all seasons that I have those feeders out. Bears think the seeds I put out for the BIRDS are for bears as well. During many months of the year I must consider the pluses and the minuses of putting out feeders when bears may be roaming. For me, a tough choice to make.

I’ve discovered a Tufted Titmouse loves peanut butter and hulled sunflower seeds. But its diet consists to a large extent, of insects including caterpillars and stink bugs. I sure wish they’d eat MORE of the Brown Marmorated Stinkbugs that are way too plentiful around here.

The Tufted Titmouse enjoys berries that are in season in the neighborhood, as well as seeds, acorns and beech nuts.

Given a choice of seeds of different sizes, it will chose the largest. It will then take that seed to a nearby branch securing it in its feet, and work on it with its beak. Whacking it into smaller sizes so that it can be eaten in a genteel manner.

A Tufted Titmouse pair will build a cup-shaped nest in a cavity in a tree. A natural hole in that tree or a cavity created and abandoned by some other animal. Or the couple may settle into a bird house put out by a human, or choose an open pipe of just the right size. The nest will take shape using bark strips, leaves, moss, grasses, wool (as in the above image) or hair of all sorts of animals.

Look carefully at the photo above. There, blending in with the many branches of flowering dogwood are a group of Tufted Titmice. And drumroll please. A group of Tufted Titmice is called a “banditry” or a “dissimulation” of titmice. Who THINKS of these names!?!

Winter Slumber

In the Blue Ridge of central Virginia bears take a winter slumber. Waking on the rare occasion to thrill those who pay attention to such things. This sleepless creature roamed the woods in January, 2015. Years later, another sleepless one. January 2020 noted by one who pays attention to such things. Rare occasion indeed.

My Winter Birds

Perhaps these are my pets, the birds that come to my feeders. Wild birds that give me comfort just by being there. The bird you see in the picture, above, is a winter bird in my area (the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia), a White-throated Sparrow, Zonotrichia albicollis. He has a sweet song that is easy to remember, using the mnemonic, “Poor Sam Peabody, Peabody, Peabody.”

I know that autumn will not last much longer, when I see these little birds, rustling around in the leaves on the forest floor. I have to look very closely to see them. Their feathers provide a great camouflage against the dry, brown, fallen leaves.

I must wait for the bears to retire for their winter slumber, before I put out the feeders for the cold months of the year. Otherwise I am likely to need to purchase a new feeder. Believe it or not, the bears do like bird seed too, and will carry a feeder off, or just totally destroy one with ease.

The bear, above, came out of his den, unannounced on January 17th, to cart off one of my feeders. He chose a new model that was designed to keep squirrels out. Needless to say, bird feeder designers don’t aim to keep bears out of the seeds. I suppose that would be an impossible task. If I know that bears are roaming, I don’t put out feeders.

I’m hoping Mr. Bear, is now back in his den. Hoping that the cold will keep him all snug and warm, and away from the bird feeders for while longer. Not only do I enjoy simply watching the birds and their antics, I depend on the feeders to bring them within easy shutter range, so that I can get pictures of my winter pets.

Another bird of winter, is the Dark-eyed Junco, Junco hyemalis. Most of them summer in the far north, some going into the Arctic. A few however, do stay in this general area year ’round. I have seen some summering in the Shenandoah National Park, which is just a short distance from my cabin. Here at my feeders though, it is only the migrating Dark-eyed Junco, that I see.

I speak of the wild birds as my pets. I don’t have any “all the time” pets living with me. A frequent visitor, though, is my son’s and daughter-in-law’s cat, Betelgeuse.

That’s Betelgeuse, in the picture above. She’s a rescue, Maine Coon cat. She is a predator. For her own safety and health, and for the sake of my wild pets, she is an indoor pet. I hope your cat is an indoor cat as well, for the sake of my wild pets.

Jack-in-the-pulpit

Anticipation

Anticipation makes my world go round. I find something, perhaps a plant, just beginning to emerge in the spring. I return to the infant plant often. Watching and waiting. Looking forward to its grand finale.

This is the story of anticipation from beginning to disappointing end, of a Jack-in-the-pulpit, Arisaema triphyllum. The photograph above, taken in mid May, is the discovery, of an infant Jack-in-the-pulpit. A Jack-in-the-pulpit full of promise, on its way to producing a flower.

What is thought of, as the flower of the Jack-in-the-pulpit, is actually a stalk (called a spadix) inside a tube-like structure with a top flap (called a spathe). If you would like to see the flowers of the Jack-in-the-pulpit, you will need a hand lens. They can be found at the base of the spadix, appearing as very small yellowish dots.

The hard for humans to see, flowers of the Jack-in-the-pulpit, are mushroom scented. Yum. Sounds delightful! The scent does the trick. The scent and warmth produced by the plant, attracts fungus gnats. The fungus gnats go through a complicated system which accomplishes the pollination, which in turn produces berries.

The object of my anticipation. The berries of the Jack-in-the-pulpit were beginning to mature in mid July. In the photograph above, the berries are bursting forth, through the walls of the spathe. Peeking out, into the world.

I get the first hint of trouble in mid August, as the berries free themselves of the last of the remaining walls of the spathe. My hint? The uppermost leaves, of this patch of Jack-in-the-pulpit, growing taller than they usually do, have been chomped off.

And then, the crushing blow. The clusters of berries are gone. The grand finale is gone. Along with the berries, something has eaten the stems, and has even left holes where the corms had been. Color me frustrated. No beautiful crimson berries this year, by the back porch.

The culprit(s)? My first thought is rabbits. They are always plentiful in the summer. Many hanging out, eating grass and weeds. Usually well behaved rabbits, but on rare occasion they will turn brazen. But no, the plants were too tall for a bunny to chomp. The plants had gotten to be more than knee high at the back of my cabin in perfect growing conditions: moist and shady.

My second thought, is deer, but a deer sighting here at my cabin is rare. And I see, on lists of plants that deer will avoid, Jack-in-the-pulpit (unless they are starving). I doubt they are starving. The woods here are lush with growth. In searching for an answer to my mystery, on the Internet, I find my answer.

Bears love Jack-in-the-pulpit. Bears! Yes! I often see bears up here. Now to figure out how to discourage their eating the Jack-in-the-pulpits, all the way down to the corms.

Black Bear Hibernation

Sleeping through some, or most of the winter, as Black Bears (Ursus americanus) do, has been referred to as winter sleep, carnivorean lethargy, dormancy or torpor. Now leading physiologists simply call this long sleep, hibernation.

We humans sometimes get up in the middle of the night for a midnight snack. Black Bears are known to do a similar thing in the middle of winter. During a warm spell, one may stumble from his den in search of something to eat. I saw one here in my yard about this time, last year, looking like he needed something to nibble on.

I’m hoping the bears around here will sleep through this warm spell. I’m putting out black oil sunflower seeds for the birds, and I would prefer that the bears do not tamper with the feeders. Last year, the bear I saw didn’t damage the bird feeders. Maybe I’ll be as lucky this year. Stay tuned!

Bear Signs

I see signs of Black Bear, Ursus americanus, up here in the mountains very often, though I don’t see the bears themselves frequently.

An often seen sign of bear, is a pile of bear poop, or bear scat, a term used in more sophisticated company. Bear scat can weigh typically, one half pound, to one pound. That should make you realize that these are large animals! What you find in bear scat is, of course, a direct reflection of what the bear has been eating. Ninety percent of a Black Bear’s diet is fruits and berries, and other vegetation, while the other ten percent is other animals, including insects and insect larvae.

Another sign that shows up here on the mountain, is the overturned grill. Care is taken to clean the grill, but I suppose one can never remove the scent of a freshly cooked meal. After all, Black Bears have extremely sensitive noses. It basically happens like this: the afternoon after the grilled dinner has been eaten, at a quiet moment, when no one is expecting it, least of all the visiting bear, there is a sudden, very loud crash! I look out my studio windows and see a very startled bear running up the mountain, away from the overturned grill. The grill is a hefty, propane grill and is a good sized piece of cooking equipment. It surprises me how often it is turned over. It also is surprising how durable the grill is, coming through with hardly any damage. Surely it is not the same bear every time. It is very apparent that it truly frightens the bear!

Another sign that is encountered is the telltale paw print. On storm doors, on car hoods, on grills. Paw prints many places. And mind you, no trash is left outside up here to attract the bears. No trash to draw the Black Bear, but he figures this is his territory to explore at will. To leave tracks in mud. Tracks that say, Black Bear was here!

In the photo of the bear track above, the round object on the far right is a quarter for scale. If you look carefully, you can also see marks left by his claws.

This fellow is quite a climber. He’s gotten himself high into the apple tree, breaking branches along the way. I’ve also got a Montmorency Cherry tree. Cherries from that tree make such scrumptious pies, but I’ve given up trying to get cherries from the tree. Not only do the bears beat me to the cherries, but the tree is also half the size it should be, because of broken branches.

My husband grows Christmas trees. Bears and Christmas trees are not a good combination. Bears have a habit of chomping off the leader of a beautiful Christmas tree, or they may do more damage, breaking the tree further down.

But look at that sweet face! I would not trade my cabin in the mountains, my cabin surrounded by woods for anything in the world. I love living in Black Bear country!

I’ve just posted more photographs and information on how Black Bears mark their territory. You can find that post by clicking here.