Attacked bear

[woodman]

I have some special places that hold several bears that I don't hunt with anything other than trail cameras. I love getting pics and videos of them. There is a sow and cub in a particular area that I have been following for a couple of years. I am including 3 videos here, one shows the the mother and cub in 2012, and one shows the mother and cub about 2-3 weeks ago and the last one has me very worried for that cub.

I took a break from my spring bear hunt and went to check my cameras yesterday. I got several bear videos with some real bruisers in there. One video looks like the sow and no cub in tow. She looks like she has been attacked pretty good. Her back quarters looks bloodied up and her walking looks impaired. I am including a still picture also. The part of the video with her in it is very short but does convey that something bad has happened. Maybe you guys can help me understand what I am seeing a little better. I know the eye for detail on this site is nothing less than amazing.

I really hope that cub is still alive.


trying to be a big bear 0013.AVI













sow with tree climbing cub














Injured bear

[pianoman9701]

Very cool and a cute little guy.

[Orion88]

Hard to tell, but does look like the sow is injured.  Hopefully, the cub will show up in future on trail cam.

[grundy53]

I would say that the cub was ran off while mommy was bred... and things got a little rough.

[fillthefreezer]

i see what you mean, hard to say what went down..

[Turner89]

I would say that the cub was ran off while mommy was bred... and things got a little rough.

[ORCA_SIX]

Good videos.

[nwwanderer]

Good job mom, more grubs = less elk calves.

[woodman]

I would say that the cub was ran off while mommy was bred... and things got a little rough.

grundy53, thanks for your input here. I think what you are saying makes a lot of sense. It is the right time of year and I have seen many cubs in this area over the years. Maybe a couple of more cubs will show up a few months from now from this sow. I guess nature is pretty rough on many levels. I will keep on using my trail cams and see if that cub shows back up. My cameras cover quite a bit of ground in that area, so the odds are good of spotting it.

[Houndhunter]

I thought bears breed in Oct-Nov ? Could be wrong

[woodman]

I thought bears breed in Oct-Nov ? Could be wrong

I believe that when animals breed when you say, that they have their babies in the spring. I do believe that this is the start of bear breeding season since they have their young in December during hiberation.

[Austrian Hunter]

Very cool video!!!!! Thanks for sharing!!  It would make sense that she was bred and it got a little rough, it's the time for sure!! 

[billythekidrock]

It could be injured but that vid is too short to tell for sure. To me it looks like a bear stiff legging or posturing while walking and turning to the left.

[brew]

I thought bears breed in Oct-Nov ? Could be wrong

I believe that when animals breed when you say, that they have their babies in the spring. I do believe that this is the start of bear breeding season since they have their young in December during hiberation.

the sow's mostly are in heat mid june-mid july although they can be anywhere from mid may-august (or until bred)....they are bred/fertilized at this time but the egg is in limbo until November when during their hibernation the body detects if the sow is healthy (fat) enough to support the pregnancy---if so the egg is incubated for another 55 days until the cub/s are born...if not healthy (fat) enough the pregnancy is naturally terminated...cub/s are born december/january

[norsepeak]

infanticide is very common in bears.  A mature male will kill the cubs of a sow to bring her back into estrous so he can potentially breed her again.  Happens a lot with Griz and Brownies, lesser in Black bears, but does still happen.