Black bear den

[bb07]

Black bear den

I recently found this den in my wandering about through the bush. It's not one from this past winter but older.
It's been dug out near the base of a jack pine, situated close to the top of a hill and facing north. The ball cap is for scale to show the size of the entrance.

To the right of the tree a depression can be seen. This is directly above the den and is caused by the ground beginning to collapse. In fact, in the upper part of the pic a small hole can be seen where the ground has opened up into the den, allowing light through to the inside.

A closer shot of the entrance

Here I've placed my hat in about the middle of the den. At the top of the pic a small hole can be seen allowing light in. This is the same hole mentioned above.

Directly below my Joel Delorme Highland Bushcraft is the small hole

It was at the top of this hill where I found the den

The den entrance is to the left

Here it looks as if the bear started digging at the spot in the bottom of the pic before moving closer to the tree

To some it's just a hole in the ground but I was pretty excited to find it. It's only the third I've ever found.

 

[Galemys]

That´s fantastic, thank´s for showing!
It took me two pic´s to realise that the rock in the entrance was your cap

Cheers,

Tom

 

[Chris the Cat]

Great stuff , thank you !
My best.
Chris.

 

[Retired Member southey]

Grea find dude! cheers for posting it matey how long do you reckon its been empty, do they dig new dens each year?

 

[bb07]

Grea find dude! cheers for posting it matey how long do you reckon its been empty, do they dig new dens each year?

I think it's been unused for at least a couple of years. I've never seen a den used more than once but from what I understand it does happen, but not very often. Generally they dig new ones every year.

 

[Bushwhacker]

That is cool.
Is there any type of smell in the holes?

 

[bb07]

That is cool.
Is there any type of smell in the holes?

No, nothing but a musty earth smell now.