From Lake Cochise I headed over to the Southeast part of Chiricahua Mountains (the Cave Creek area near Portal). And another successful trip. Fires have driven the bears down from the mountain tops to areas more accessible to hikers and photographers. After the monsoon rains new life begins: saplings grasses, berries etc. Areas along roads get more sun, hence more of this "smorgasbord" dinner for the bears. Water from the flooding creates "trenches" along the road too. These trenches collect leaves. The dampness from the water and the leaves in the trenches create a perfect climate for insects, grubs, worms, etc. Voila, a vegetarian becomes an omnivore. I walked with this young two year old (maybe 200 pounds) for about 30 minutes.
Here are a few photos from this trip:
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| Black Bear looking for grubs. |
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| Black Bear finding grubs. |
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| Black Bear heading over to a campground (which was closed -- well to humans, anyway). |
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| Black Bear in Campground looking for protein. |
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| Black Bear walking toward me. |
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| Black Bear getting a little too close. |
At this point I started slowly backing up. I got the message -- and, so did he. He stopped and I continued to slowly back away, leaving the area to him. Black Bears are a joy to watch --- and photograph.
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