Going On A Bear Hunt!

Going On A Bear Hunt!

Going on a bear hunt! When ever I say those words it brings back memories of playing a rhythm story telling game with our children. Last fall Becky and I decided to do just that. We had heard of Bear siteings and did a little research as to where we could go to possibly see a Louisiana Black Bear. We had even read about a bear that happened to wonder through the shopping district of Vicksburg, Mississippi where we live.

So we gathered up our gear and headed to Louisiana late one beautiful fall afternoon. We knew that the bears would be hungry and getting ready to hibernate for a short southern winter’s nap. Hopefully we would be able to find our subject out foraging  in the late afternoon sun. At least to get a few pictures.

Here’s a little background on the bears we have down here in the bottom lands and swamps.

The Louisiana black bear is the state mammal for Louisiana, and it is one of 16 subspecies of the American black bear. The Louisiana black bear subspecies is only known to occur in Louisiana, east Texas and western Mississippi. Compared to other black bears, the Louisiana black bear’s skull is longer, narrower and flatter, with larger molar teeth.

Currently it is estimated that between 500 and 750 Louisiana black bears roam the United States, approximately double the population size at the time of listed on the endangered species list.

Louisiana black bears typically live in bottom land hardwood forest  of the Lower Mississippi River Valley. They den in trees or on the ground from December through April. Other habitat types include brackish and freshwater marshes, salt domes, wooded spoil levees along canals and bayous, and agricultural fields.

Black bears spend a lot of their time foraging for food, and what they eat largely depends on the season. In the spring and summer black bears eat dewberries, blackberries, wild grapes, elderberries, persimmon, pawpaw, pokeweed, devils walking stick, thistle, palmetto, and a variety of fruited vines and soft mast producing shrubs. In the fall they eat acorns, pecans, corn, oats, and wheat, and some bears in southern coastal Louisiana have been documented visiting sugar cane fields. They also may occasionally eat animal remains.

Just north of  Vicksburg in the Delta there is a spot called Onward, Mississippi. President Theodore Roosevelt came to the Mississippi Delta to hunt black bear. Holt Collier was hired as the president’s guide on this hunt. After a long pursuit on the first morning of the hunt, Collier offered a lassoed and injured bear for President Roosevelt to harvest. President Roosevelt refused to shoot the injured bear, stating it would be unsportsmanlike. This event led to the creation of the Teddy bear.

We had been looking for a while when we spotted what looked like a couple of dogs playing a tractor road next to a cotton field. We took a look with the binoculars and saw that it was a mother black bear playing with her cub. Pulling down the road a bit we were able to get a few pictures of the bears before they darted into the cotton field. The mama bear went a few yards into the cotton and stood up to see if we were still there. Mind you in this image she is standing upright. So the cotton was around a full five foot high. I wasn’t able to get a great shot of her peeking out of the cotton field but it sure was a fun experience to see her. This particular mama bear was being tracked by the Louisiana Wildlife Services as you can see by the fashionable tracking collar she is sporting.

As we traveled futher we came across a harvested corn field where we spotted seven black bears scattered around the field. They were all very busy stuffing themselves with left over corn that the farmers leave at the edges of the fields for them. It was hard to believe that there were seven bears in that field. By the way we always keep our distance and use our long lenses to try and capture the images of them. Most of these shots the bears are over a football field’s distance away. So it makes it tough to get good shots even with the long glass.

So all of these bears were out on picnic and of course after a long day munching it’s good to take a little nap in the grass. This guy was well over two hundred yards away. It’s always fun going out for a bear hunt to see what you can see.

So to end my rambling bear tale here is one of my favorite childhood songs.

The Teddy Bear Picnic  by Henry Hall 1932

If you go down in the woods today, you’re sure of a big surprise
If you go down in the woods today, you’d better go in disguise
For every bear that ever there was will gather there for certain
Because today’s the day the teddy bears have their picnic

Every teddy bear who’s been good is sure of a treat today
There’s lots of marvellous things to eat and wonderful games to play
Beneath the trees where nobody sees they’ll hide and seek as long as they please

That’s the way the teddy bears have their picnic

Picnic time for teddy bears
The little teddy bears are having a lovely time today
Watch them, catch them unawares and see them picnic on their holiday

See them gaily gad about
They love to play and shout
They never have any cares
At six o’clock their mummies and daddies will take them back home to bed
Because they’re tired little teddy bears

If you go down in the woods today, you better not go alone
It’s lovely down in the woods today, but safer to stay at home
For every bear that ever there was will gather there for certain
Because today’s the day the teddy bears have their picnic

Writer/s: JOHN W BRATTON, JIMMY KENNEDY
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.