Black Bears in the Chiricahuas

The Cave Creek area of the Chiricahua Mountains is one of the most bio diverse in the US. World renown for its birding, it also has a wide variety of mammals. The fire took its toll though on the birding. South Fork Cave Creek trail, one of the premier spots in the US was closed. The 1.5 mile road to the trailhead, while closed to autos, was open for foot traffic. I did that the first day before and then the second day after the "flood." (I will show you some "flood" photos in an upcoming post). Although there was an Elegant Trogon the first day, it was much too far away for a photo. The few birds that I did see that day were gone the next. However, just as in the Huachuca "Monument" fire, it brought the larger mammals down into the riparian areas where there was more access. In the three days at Cave Creek, I found five black bears. 

I should start by saying that there were very few birders/tourists around. All the campsites were closed. Most of the people there were either at the Southwest Research Center (university students), rangers, or road/fire crews working to remove debris and assess damage. I did run into one small birding group the first day as I hiked up South Fork Road. The main road (Forest Road #42) was open from the little town of Portal for about 15 miles through Cave Creek and up the mountain at which point it was closed due to fire damage. With much of the surrounding area closed, all I could do was focus on what I could find from the road. As I was returning back down the mountain and into Cave Creek there was a Black Bear standing along side the road. (first photo) We stared at each other for a couple of minutes before he ran halfway up the hillside. (second photo) After he realized I was not there to harm him, he came back down and started eating the leaves off of the small saplings along the side of the road. I stayed with him taking photos for about 30 minutes. During that time no other car or people came by. Finally, I said "good-bye" and left him there to himself. Here are a couple of photos.

Black Bear

Black Bear