[Hollynla]

We know that there are many black bears around our property. Although we haven't visually seen on yet this year, we've seen and heard signs of them and know the former owners have lots of pics of the bears in the yard. My question is on this tree. It's on the hillside in front of our house. It's obviously a rotted tree but not dead. I noticed this when I cut the grass on Sunday and it was not like this the previous time. What is this from, is it a bear or something else?

[Old Fossil]

Looks like bear to me. It probably was digging for the bugs/beetles in the dead tree. I have seen this same sign on down, rotting trees. I spend lots of time on the Ouachita National Forest doing archeology work and this is a common sight, along with logs and rocks being turned over.


Most people don't know it but bears have a very distinct odor out in the wilderness where there is no conflicting odors. It is a combination of the smell of a wet dog and molded hay. Of course lots of people don't know what molded hay smells like

[Hollynla]

Thanks Fossil, makes sense. We had noticed this same scraping thing before on an old rotting stump.

We really want to see the bear. Son almost had a close encounter while he was in the garage working on his dirt bike. He heard grunting and what he described as a "yipping" sound, along with slow foot steps crackling in the leaves outside the garage. After about the 4th grunt/huff he heard, he quickly made his way into the house. We googled cub sounds and when I played this sound, he said it was, without a doubt, the sound he heard along with the grunting.
http://bearsmartdurango.org/wp-conte...CUB-MOTHER.wav

[Luvvarkansas]

I don't want to see any bears. Why do people want to see bears? I don't understand that. Bears can kill you.

If I were you I'd keep some heavy-duty pepper spray on me at all times when I was in the yard.

[Hollynla]

Originally Posted by Luvvarkansas

I don't want to see any bears. Why do people want to see bears? I don't understand that. Bears can kill you.

If I were you I'd keep some heavy-duty pepper spray on me at all times when I was in the yard.

I want to see them from a safe distance. I think they are such beautiful animals. Black bears are not really aggressive as long as you keep a safe distance. It's a very different story when it comes to grizzly bears which aren't found in Arkansas.

We do arm ourselves when we venture from any distance from the house. I even cut grass with a pistol in a holster, not so much to shoot a bear, but to fire in the air hoping to scare if away if I needed to. Since we are literally located within the national forest, the possibility of coming across a bear accidentally is there. My son also has his own arsenal and he came back into the house after hearing the bears, to get a gun to have with him while he was in the garage. We don't ever want to kill any animal that we don't intend to eat but we are also not stupid and would always rather be safe than sorry. That being said, it's extremely rare to hear of any attacks by black bears here.

[Old Fossil]

Originally Posted by Hollynla

Thanks Fossil, makes sense. We had noticed this same scraping thing before on an old rotting stump.

We really want to see the bear. Son almost had a close encounter while he was in the garage working on his dirt bike. He heard grunting and what he described as a "yipping" sound, along with slow foot steps crackling in the leaves outside the garage. After about the 4th grunt/huff he heard, he quickly made his way into the house. We googled cub sounds and when I played this sound, he said it was, without a doubt, the sound he heard along with the grunting.
http://bearsmartdurango.org/wp-conte...CUB-MOTHER.wav

Yep, what you wrote is correct. As much as I have been in the mountains, I have never seen a bear. They normally will avoid you out in the wilderness but when they are hanging around a home, looking for available food, they will be more brave. I have smelled them, seen their fresh feeding signs, and a couple times tracked their fresh tracks, but you can tell when they realized I was back there because they took a 90 degree change in course.

[Old Fossil]

Originally Posted by Luvvarkansas

I don't want to see any bears. Why do people want to see bears? I don't understand that. Bears can kill you.

If I were you I'd keep some heavy-duty pepper spray on me at all times when I was in the yard.

If "It's out there" I gotta go see it and try to get photos I have a better chance of getting killed on the highway going to the mountains than killed by a bear in the mountains

[jimnelson1]

Set up a game camera and in a few days you'll know exactly what's roaming your property.

[Old Fossil]

Originally Posted by jimnelson1

Set up a game camera and in a few days you'll know exactly what's roaming your property.

Good point. You never know what you'll get a photo of. A friend set up one to monitor deer in his "deer woods" and got a photo of a cougar/mountain lion even though Game and Fish denied there were any in Arkansas. When he showed them the photo they said it wasn't native, it was only passing through

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by Old Fossil

Looks like bear to me. It probably was digging for the bugs/beetles in the dead tree. I have seen this same sign on down, rotting trees. I spend lots of time on the Ouachita National Forest doing archeology work and this is a common sight, along with logs and rocks being turned over.


Most people don't know it but bears have a very distinct odor out in the wilderness where there is no conflicting odors. It is a combination of the smell of a wet dog and molded hay. Of course lots of people don't know what molded hay smells like

you are right, a low of us have no idea. I hope we don't see signs of a bear in our yard: I doubt we will. I worry about our little doggy. We don't have a fenced yard and she does go out a few times a day; loves the doors. We sometimes think she thinks she is a bear or some wild creature. We never her out after dark.

Setting up a camera is a great idea. Our friends had a neighborhood red fox family for a few years. Suddenly they disappeared last fall and haven't been seen since, but the 1/2 hot dog they put out for Foxy or mr Fox is always gone. they figured one of the other critters we have was getting it. They set the camera and guess what? It is a fox but not the same one. This one is younger, smaller and skinny. We are guessing it is Mr. Fox and his wife's off spring.