sierrahunter
Well-known member
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2015
- Messages
- 136
I was hunting a meadow in the Sierra Nevada recently, and could hear the sound of branches breaking down the hill. I hoped to find bears foraging for termites and grubs in downed trees, but had a hard time pinpointing the location. Then I realized the sound was coming from above. I looked up to discover two bears perched about eighty feet up in a pine tree. They were foraging for pine nuts within the cones of the tree. It was a crazy thing to see, but it got even more bizarre.
As I neared the tree, one of the bears lost its footing and fell out of the tree, straight to the ground. It was surreal. It seemed like the bear was falling in slow motion with its feet straight up, until the bear hit the forest floor with a brutal thud. I walked up to the tree to determine the fate of the bear, and found a bear sow and a cub at the base of the tree tearing apart pine cones that had fallen from the bears above. Needless to say, I backed out of there, and may never know the outcome of that fall. I've included a link to a video of one bear in the tree (the one with better balance), and another of a sow and cubs I saw about an hour later higher up the mountain.
Bear in tree:
Sow with cubs:
As I neared the tree, one of the bears lost its footing and fell out of the tree, straight to the ground. It was surreal. It seemed like the bear was falling in slow motion with its feet straight up, until the bear hit the forest floor with a brutal thud. I walked up to the tree to determine the fate of the bear, and found a bear sow and a cub at the base of the tree tearing apart pine cones that had fallen from the bears above. Needless to say, I backed out of there, and may never know the outcome of that fall. I've included a link to a video of one bear in the tree (the one with better balance), and another of a sow and cubs I saw about an hour later higher up the mountain.
Bear in tree:
Sow with cubs:
