Pre-Dawn Black Bear Visit At The House

I stumbled into my study before dawn Saturday morning, glanced out the window, and was surprised to see I was receiving a black bear visit.

We live on the eastern border of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, so black bears are quite common. Still, it is always a surprise when you realize one of the magnificent creatures is only ten feet or so away. I grabbed the camera and attempted to take photos through the windows and into the darkness outside. Not great photographs, but still fun to capture one of our bigger neighbors.

Black bears typically mate in June and cubs are delivered right around the first of the year. Mama bear raises and trains the cubs for a year and a half when they are kicked out of the house to start the mating cycle again. Based on the small size of this one, guessing a yearling freshly kicked out of mama’s protective care. This could be one of the four cubs we saw wandering around with mom last summer, but no way to know for sure.

Hope you enjoy the pictures.

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