While up in Sequoia National Park (NP) last month, we learned that not all black bears are actually black in color. However, all the bear scat we encountered was black! The big cinnamon-colored bear was the first that we observed from a distance of about 50 yards, and we followed it as it moved down a tree-covered slope. Minutes later, it came out into the open on some large boulders near water. From there we lost sight of the bear, but it seemed to be moving downstream toward the Lodgepole campground.
A few days later we saw this female bear (No. 65) with two youngsters. As you can see, these two also have brown coats. This family of bears foraged in the meadow for a long time, causing a major traffic jam in the park as people stopped their cars in the middle of the road and jumped out to get a photograph or two. The meadow was lush with deep grass (you can see the mother is chewing a huge mouthful), and it was right below the road that runs through the park, opposite the Giant Forest Museum.
On June 18, 2014 around 4:30 p.m., my husband and I were on the trail from Tokopah Falls near the Lodgepole campground in Sequoia National Park. There was a small gathering of people watching a black bear with her two cubs feeding in a meadow. As I moved up and down the trail trying to get a good angle to take a photograph of the event, my husband elbowed me and said, "Look! There's a deer!" Indeed, the deer was about six feet away from the trail, but the doe was paying no attention to the viewers. Her attention was fixed on the bears, who were now face down, feeding at the base of a large tree. Moments before the deer's arrival, I had heard some soft cries and thought it was the baby bears crying to their mom….
As you can see in the second photo, the adult deer passed very close to the bears as she circled the tree. At first, she was silent, but after a few circles, she started vocalizing. Clearly, she was in distress. Periodically, she would stop looking off to the left of the scene as if she were waiting for reinforcements. No other deer were to be seen during the 20 minutes that we stayed at the site. The next two videos are of the interaction between the bears and deer. Words are unnecessary to sum up this Life 101 event.
