Check out this tree!

[sleeping bear]

Went for a snowshoe hike today and must have walked right through a bear neighborhood! There were trees EVERYWHERE with claw marks up them. I've seen bear marks up trees before but not like this!

Must have been a bear tree fort up there some where!

 

[Neil]

That tree looks a lot like my back after conjugal relations.

 

[w7xman]

I encountered another beech tree on the ice gulch path last year with less pronounced, but still distinct scarring. I wonder if bears prefer beech trees to climb, or the evidence that they do is just stronger???

 

[BorealChickadee]

Those are beech trees and the bears are climbing them to get to the beech nuts (mast) in the fall. They climb the tree, find a nice spot and pull in the branches that have nuts on them, usually cracking the branches so they end up staying in. And then we call them bear's nests. Sort of like a giant squirrel's nest, but a lot bigger.

 

[Grumpy]

I encountered another beech tree on the ice gulch path last year with less pronounced, but still distinct scarring. I wonder if bears prefer beech trees to climb, or the evidence that they do is just stronger???

That's a great question!

I think it is well established that bears enthusiastically climb beech trees to get at the nuts. But beech bark, being smooth and evidently fairly soft, also does an exceptional job of capturing and holding the evidence of their activity. So maybe this is a "six of one and half a dozen of the other" type case.

Beech trees are an old time favorite of jackknife-wielding swains who have used the trees as canvases for romantic art publicly declaring their eternal love for a significant other. The bark is an ideal engraving medium for such expressions. You can find such art anywhere you find old beeches within a short walk from the road ... and sometimes in surprisingly remote spots, as well.

G.

 

[sleeping bear]

Those are beech trees and the bears are climbing them to get to the beech nuts (mast) in the fall. They climb the tree, find a nice spot and pull in the branches that have nuts on them, usually cracking the branches so they end up staying in. And then we call them bear's nests. Sort of like a giant squirrel's nest, but a lot bigger.

Wow, I didn't know that's why they went up them, thanks. My hiking companions thought they went up to get at bugs under rotting bark. None of the trees we saw appeared to have any rotting bark though.

 

[forestgnome]

Wow, I didn't know that's why they went up them, thanks. My hiking companions thought they went up to get at bugs under rotting bark. None of the trees we saw appeared to have any rotting bark though.

Now you'll see them all the time! Nice picture. The claw marks show activity from different times and even different sized bears. The marks that are deep and dark are older, showing the natural process of rot. Bugs will get in there to eat and live, then woodpeckers and nuthatches will feed on the insects, making homes for owls and squirrels.

The lightly-colored, deep claw marks are relevtively fresh. Especially interesting are the very shallow scratch marks. Those were probably made by cubs. They don't have enough weight to make their claws dig into the bark. There are so many marks because there were probaly two or three. I've watched them wrestle each other on the trunk of the tree while mama feeds on mast.

Thanks for sharing an excellent picture that tells a story. The best views are seen under the canopy

Happy Trails

 

[Seeker]

Cool thread! Learn something new every day.