bear peeling trees in higher elevation

[Humptulips]

Question from a bear noob.  What kind of trees are we talking about other than the just-mentioned Douglas fir?  Will bear or any animals do this to cedar?

I've seen just about every kind of tree peeled by bears at times but D.Fir is for sure the favorite. They like white fir too and cedar comes in probably third.

[boneaddict]

 
In my opinion, a majority of peels are within reach of the ground.   

[plottwalker]

not starting a argument, but bears do peel trees that high. not that common but it happens. seen bears in the act a few times on the side of the road or at a feeder. pretty cool to catch them in the act right before they got dogs on there tail... some times up high they dont start peeling until july right around the time deperedation closes.  those bears have a free for all most years.

[snowpack]

Question from a bear noob.  What kind of trees are we talking about other than the just-mentioned Douglas fir?  Will bear or any animals do this to cedar?

Seems the majority prefer fir, but hemlock, spruce and cedar get it from time to time.  The trees that seem to get hit hard are the firs that are about 12 inches in diameter.  Firs drop the lower branches sooner than the others.  When you find a stand of reprod you'll notice you can see through the firs better.  Kind of leaves the trunks more easily accessible to the bears (though a bear will tear up anything to get to food).  Also with the low branches why you can find deer/grouse holed up a little more in hemlocks.  When the trees start getting a little bigger than 12 inches the bears start climbing more and you might see the upper peels...some bears even peel vertically.
It seems they like to stick to conifers, but I've heard they tear up alder on occasion (probably leave it because they know the elk and blacktails like to tear it up so much  ).  Never seen/heard of them eating maples, but it would seem like that would be the tree of choice because of the sap and how much they like maple stuff (syrup/pastries/bacon).   

[bearbaito6]

I've got a pic somewhere of a huge maple, that was peeled about 15' up.

[billythekidrock]

Bears will peel a variety of trees. I have seen Fir, Hemlock & Spruce the most, but also Maple and Cedar.

They will peel high in a tree and I have seen peels an estimated 100 feet up large Spruce on the coast. The bark is thinner up high and easier to peel on larger trees.

Here is a high bear peel.



High peel.



Base of the tree. Porcupines will not leave large pieces of bark in the tree or at the base.

[boneaddict]

Nice!