http://www.petramainewildlife.com/053111-photos/ en Wed, 07 Sep 2011 19:42:46 -0400 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Sandvox 2.1.8 http://www.petramainewildlife.com/053111-photos/053111-220005.html <div class="article-summary"><p>Something in the forest has gotten this bear's attention and he does leave the area after this photo is taken. </p></div> Sun, 07 Aug 2011 10:43:45 -0400 http://www.petramainewildlife.com/053111-photos/053111-220005.html maine black bearblack bear photosbear photosnorthern mainearoostook countyst. agatha mainesaint agatha mainepetra mainewildlife photos http://www.petramainewildlife.com/053111-photos/053111-220004.html <div class="article-summary"><p>In my photos, you will see bear and moose in the same locations, although not at the same time. Only one case has ever been documented of a black bear preying on an adult moose. A black bear in Ontario, Canada came upon a cow moose in her day bed and lept onto her back. Despite the cow's desperate attempts to free itself by crashing into trees, the bear did bring the moose down. Biologists were able to determine that the moose had been in good health prior to the attack. </p></div> Sun, 07 Aug 2011 10:43:45 -0400 http://www.petramainewildlife.com/053111-photos/053111-220004.html black bear photosmaine black bearnorthern maine black bearst. john valleyst. agatha mainesaint agatha mainepetra mainewildlife photoswildlife pictures http://www.petramainewildlife.com/053111-photos/053111-220003.html <div class="article-summary"><p>Despite the fact that much of their diet consists of vegetable matter and they are not above eating dead animals that they come across, black bears are predators. If an opportunity presents itself, a bear will hunt and kill its own prey. Any animal that wanders too close to the bear is fair game, possibly even a human being, although this would be unusual. Injured animals are easily taken. The black bear can run uphill or downhill, climb trees, or swim at amazing speeds, but only for short distances. </p></div> Sun, 07 Aug 2011 10:43:45 -0400 http://www.petramainewildlife.com/053111-photos/053111-220003.html maine black bearblack bear photosblack bear photoblack bear picturewildlife photosst. agatha mainesaint agatha mainepetra maine http://www.petramainewildlife.com/053111-photos/053111-220002.html <div class="article-summary"><p>Earlier, in reference to a black bear's diet, I pointed out that black bears will eat rotting carcasses of dead animals that they may come across. To a bear, carrion is even more appealing if it has maggots in it since the developing fly larvae add to the protein content of the meat. A large portion of the meat in a bear's diet is from animals that the bear did not itself kill. Thus, it is not unusual to find a bear rummaging through a compost pile in Petra, Maine. </p></div> Sun, 07 Aug 2011 10:43:45 -0400 http://www.petramainewildlife.com/053111-photos/053111-220002.html maine black bearblack bear photosblack bear picturespicture of black bearwildlife photosnorthern mainest. agatha mainesaint agatha mainepetra maine http://www.petramainewildlife.com/053111-photos/053111-220000.html <div class="article-summary"><p>The next five photos were taken only seconds apart and something seems to have attracted the black bear's attention, since he doesn't move much from this position. Since it is 10:00 p.m., it is likely that some other creature is lurking about the forest of Petra, Maine; especially since he is looking further into the forest, and not toward the road. Besides, there is seldom, if ever, any night traffic on our road. Black bears are very alert to anything else that may be moving about. </p></div> Sun, 07 Aug 2011 10:43:45 -0400 http://www.petramainewildlife.com/053111-photos/053111-220000.html maine black bearblack bear photosnorthern maine wildlifebear picturesphotos of bearwildlife photospicture of black bearst. agatha mainepetra mainesaint agatha maine http://www.petramainewildlife.com/053111-photos/053111-215926.html <div class="article-summary"><p>Black bears are not well suited for the type of hunting that wolves and mountain lions do. While they can run fast for short distances, they are flat footed and so don't do so well in long distances. Neither are they socially cooperative in the way that wolves are. Only about fifteen percent of black bear's diet is comprised of animal protein, and much of the animal matter that they consume is in the form of insects. Apart from the food scraps that this black bear undoubtedly finds in my compost materials, the compost pile attracts insects that the bear may eat. </p></div> Sun, 07 Aug 2011 10:43:45 -0400 http://www.petramainewildlife.com/053111-photos/053111-215926.html black bearblack bear photosmaine black bearnorthern mainewildlife photoswild animal photosst. agatha mainesaint agatha mainepetra maine http://www.petramainewildlife.com/053111-photos/053111-215925.html <div class="article-summary"><p>When he is not rummaging through my compost pile for discarded food scraps, the black bear tears apart ant hills and rotting logs looking for ants and other insects. He also picks blueberries, raspberries and blackberries that grow in Petra, Maine. Bears also feed on the bark of trees and the soft cambium layer beneath. Fortunately, trees grow like weeds in Petra, so the bear is welcome to eat some of our trees. </p></div> Sun, 07 Aug 2011 10:43:45 -0400 http://www.petramainewildlife.com/053111-photos/053111-215925.html maine black bearblack bear photosblack bear pictureswildlife photoswild animal photoscompost pilest. agatha mainesaint agatha mainepetra maine http://www.petramainewildlife.com/053111-photos/053111-215924.html <div class="article-summary"><p>Although a carnivore by strict definition, eighty to eighty-five percent of a black bear's diet consists of plant matter. This particular bear is especially fond of apples, so apple cores, or whole apples that I sometimes leave, are never allowed to compost in my compost pile in Petra, Maine. In another location, I sprinkled the area around my camera with a bag of apples, thinking that I'd get some pictures of a deer or moose; instead, I got pictures of the bear carrying off the apples. </p></div> Sun, 07 Aug 2011 10:43:45 -0400 http://www.petramainewildlife.com/053111-photos/053111-215924.html maine black bearblack bear photospicture of black bearbear photoswildlife photosnorthern mainest. agatha mainesaint agatha mainepetra maine http://www.petramainewildlife.com/053111-photos/053111-215923.html <div class="article-summary"><p>You might think that there isn't much left here that would be of interest to a Maine black bear. However, bears tear through logs in order to get at ants that may be inside of them, and nearly every ant hill that I have come across in Petra has been torn apart by bears looking for ants to eat, so it's nothing for a bear to forage through shredded paper and cardboard for bits of food scraps that may be included in the compost. </p></div> Sun, 07 Aug 2011 10:43:45 -0400 http://www.petramainewildlife.com/053111-photos/053111-215923.html maine black bearblack bear photoblack bear picturesphoto of black bearnorthern maine wildlifewildlife photosst. agatha mainesaint agatha mainepetra maine http://www.petramainewildlife.com/053111-photos/053111-215922.html <div class="article-summary"><p>Bears spend most of their waking hours foraging for food, nearly all of it consisting of plant matter. You may consider it beneath a bear to forage for food in a compost pile, but most of the small amount of meat in their diet is comprised of insects and other crawling things, and bears are not at all averse to eating the carcasses of rotting animals that they happen upon. </p></div> Sun, 07 Aug 2011 10:43:45 -0400 http://www.petramainewildlife.com/053111-photos/053111-215922.html maine black bearblack bear photoblack bear picturenorthern maine black bearpicture of black bearwildlife photosmaine wildlifest. agatha mainesaint agatha mainepetra maine http://www.petramainewildlife.com/053111-photos/053111-215837.html <div class="article-summary"><p>People generally overestimate the size of a wild animal, and the more dangerous we think the animal may be, the bigger we perceive it to be. Most black bears weigh about the same or slightly more than the average human being, generaly from 160 to 220 pounds. Some have been known to reach 500 pounds, but this can be said of people too. A bear is fully grown at about the age of seven or eight, and the northeastern states have yielded the largest black bears. </p></div> Sun, 07 Aug 2011 10:43:45 -0400 http://www.petramainewildlife.com/053111-photos/053111-215837.html maine black bearblack bear photopicture of black bearnorthern maine wildlifewildlife photosbear in compost pilest. agatha mainesaint agatha mainepetra maine http://www.petramainewildlife.com/053111-photos/053111-215836.html <div class="article-summary"><p>Although it may appear that he's headed off, the Maine black bear comes right back to the compost pile. Even living in bear country, it is rare to see a black bear in the wild. Bears prefer it that way and, with good hearing and sense of smell, they generally know you're coming long before you could see them. A bear's first instinct is to run, whatever the intruder might be, but they often circle back to see what it was that they had run from. So if you should see a bear escaping into the brush, keep in mind that he may be watching you a few moments later. Bears have been known to attack humans, but it's not common. No black bear has ever killed a human being in the wild in Maine. In fact, nationwide, most attacks are from captive bears, or ones that live in artificial environments such as national parks or national forests, where they come to associate people with food. </p></div> Sun, 07 Aug 2011 10:43:45 -0400 http://www.petramainewildlife.com/053111-photos/053111-215836.html maine black bearnorthern maine black bearblack bearblack bear photospicture of black bearwildlife photosst. agatha mainesaint agatha mainepetra maine http://www.petramainewildlife.com/053111-photos/053111-215835.html <div class="article-summary"><p>Since early spring, I have deposited compostable materials in my compost pile every few days, and there is always evidence that the bear has been there. For obvious reasons, I never go there at night but the bear is sometimes there during the day as well. He may well have been there at the times that I have been there. If so, I wouldn't know because he would have heard me coming before I could have seen him, and he'd have hidden himself. It's not nice to sneak up on a black bear, so I make a habit of making noise while walking through the forests of Petra, as if my tripping over things every now and then wouldn't herald my arrival as it is. </p></div> Sun, 07 Aug 2011 10:43:45 -0400 http://www.petramainewildlife.com/053111-photos/053111-215835.html maine black bearwildlife photosblack bear photopicture of black bearnorthern maine black bearst. agatha mainesaint agatha mainepetra mainewildlife photos http://www.petramainewildlife.com/053111-photos/053111-215834.html <div class="article-summary"><p>Since establishing my compost pile in the woods of Petra, this particular Maine black bear has made a habit of visiting it nearly every day; usually at night, but sometimes at other times of the day. People often think of bears as predators who survive by chasing down moose and deer, but eighty to eighty-five percent of the Maine black bear's diet consists of vegetation, with other common menu items including ants, grubs, caterpillars and other crawling things. Although a black bear is capable of taking down a young moose with one swipe of its powerful paws, they are not efficient predators. Most of the meat that is included in their diet is gained from animals that were already dead before the bear got to it. When they kill, the victim is usually one of opportunity and chance. If a rabbit or a rodent is unlucky enough to come within easy reach of the bear, then the bear may take advantage of his good fortune. There is no record in history of a Maine black bear killing a human being in the wild. There is one example in the early 1900s of an Ellsworth man being killed by a black bear, but he had entered the cage of a bear on display at his gas station. </p></div> Sun, 07 Aug 2011 10:43:45 -0400 http://www.petramainewildlife.com/053111-photos/053111-215834.html maine black bearblack bearblack bear photoblack bear picturenorthern maine black bearst. agatha mainesaint agatha mainepetra maine http://www.petramainewildlife.com/053111-photos/053111-215833.html <div class="article-summary"><p>The bear continues to rummage through my compost pile. The camera is a Primos Truth Cam 35, a wildlife camera, mounted on a tree trunk just outside of the roped-in area. When it detects movement and body heat, it snaps from three to five photos in succession. Rather than including only the best of them, I have opted to display every picture that depicts a living creature in Petra, Maine. </p></div> Sun, 07 Aug 2011 10:43:45 -0400 http://www.petramainewildlife.com/053111-photos/053111-215833.html maine black bearblack bearblack bear photospicture of black bearwildlife photosprimos truth cam 35wildlife camerast. agatha mainesaint agatha mainepetra maine http://www.petramainewildlife.com/053111-photos/053111-215240.html <div class="article-summary"><p>Again, these last five pictures were taken in rapid succession, only a second or so apart, so the bear hasn't moved much. He is still foraging for food in the compost pile I have established in the woods of Petra, Maine, well away from where anyone lives. </p></div> Sun, 07 Aug 2011 10:43:45 -0400 http://www.petramainewildlife.com/053111-photos/053111-215240.html maine black bearnorthern maine black bearblack bears in mainebear photosblack bear photospicture of a black bearst. agatha mainesaint agatha mainepetra maine http://www.petramainewildlife.com/053111-photos/053111-215238_2.html <div class="article-summary"><p>It is about eight minutes before 10:00 p.m. in May 31, 2011, and the black bear continues for rummage through my compost pile in our woods in extreme northern Maine. Only one second has gone by since the last photograph so his position hasn't changed much. </p></div> Sun, 07 Aug 2011 10:43:45 -0400 http://www.petramainewildlife.com/053111-photos/053111-215238_2.html maine black bearblack bearnorthern maine black bearblack bear photosblack bear picturephoto of a black bearwildlife photosst. agatha mainesaint agatha mainepetra maine http://www.petramainewildlife.com/053111-photos/053111-215238.html <div class="article-summary"><p>As my Primos Truth Cam 35 wildlife camera takes from three to five photos in rapid succession after detecting the presence of an animal, through movement and body heat, the two pictures before this and the two after are snapped only second apart, so the bear is in pretty much the same position, rummaging through my compost pile in the woods of Petra, Maine. </p></div> Sun, 07 Aug 2011 10:43:45 -0400 http://www.petramainewildlife.com/053111-photos/053111-215238.html maine black bearblack bearnorthern maine black bearblack bear photosblack bear photopicture of a black bearst. agatha mainesaint agatha mainepetra maine http://www.petramainewildlife.com/053111-photos/053111-215237.html <div class="article-summary"><p>The Primos Truth Cam 35 wildlife camera that I have mounted to a tree just outside of the roped-in compost area takes a succession of from three to five pictures in a row after it detects movement and body heat, indicating the presence of a living thing, so the bear has not moved far from his earlier position. I should point out that I am using the masculine reference, although I don't know for a fact that this is a male bear. </p></div> Sun, 07 Aug 2011 10:43:45 -0400 http://www.petramainewildlife.com/053111-photos/053111-215237.html maine black bearblack bearnorthern maine black bearpetra maine bearbear photobear pictureswildlife photosphotos of a bear http://www.petramainewildlife.com/053111-photos/053111-215235.html <div class="article-summary"><p>Ignoring the camera flashes, the black bear pokes around in the compost pile. I carry any household scraps that are compostable here, including shredded paper and cardboard, used paper towels, food scraps, and sometimes discarded bones and meat. I wouldn't recommend doing this in a compost pile near your home, as you wouldn't necessarily want the bears to get used to hanging around your house looking for food. Maine black bears are not known for being aggressive against human beings, but any bear should be considered potentially dangerous; the more familiar they are with people, and the more they come to associate people with food, the greater the threat they may pose. </p></div> Sun, 07 Aug 2011 10:43:45 -0400 http://www.petramainewildlife.com/053111-photos/053111-215235.html black bearmaine black bearnorthern maine black bearblack bear photoblack bear picturepicture of a black bearwildlife photosst. agatha mainesaint agatha mainepetra maine