Why did the bear climb the tree?

Bear claw marks up a tulip tree. The other side of the tree had identical marks.

I took a walk down by the Musconetcong River yesterday (near Point Mountain). Two tall trees on a bluff over the river had bear claw marks all the way up the trunk. On both trees - a tulip poplar and a black walnut - there were two lines of claw marks, one on each side of the trunk. They were both about 15-20 inches in diameter. As I gazed up at the marks, which went up as high as I could see, I thought: why did it bother going all the way up there? I suppose bears may eat black walnuts, since I've seen their poop full of crushed hickory nuts (see previous post). But the tracks were recent, and walnuts have already fallen off. And tulip tree seeds have almost no meat on them. We were way off trail, so maybe a hunter or a gunshot scared it up there - gun season just started recently. Or maybe it just wanted to have a look around.

Close up of the claw marks on the tulip tree.

Point Mountain, Hunterdon County, NJ.

Bear poop

There is something exhilarating about finding fresh bear poop. Or fresh tracks, for that matter. Last December in Stokes State Forest (northern NJ) I came across this pile, composed entirely of crushed up hickory nuts.


If you have ever tried to crack a hickory nut with your teeth, it's not easy! It looks like s/he chewed them up as we would a handful of pumpkin seeds. Here are some bear molars (from Washington State) to give you a visual on that:

Bears aren't "supposed" to be out in December, but this one was. So was another one that left tracks in the new fallen snow the next day (below). Maybe they were up because of the hickory nuts (it was a good year for them). Or maybe s/he was hungry and deranged. Gulp.