[Leica] IMG: Blondie & BooBoo

[ricc at embarqmail.com (Ric Carter)]

nice stuff

must have been exciting

ric


On Oct 9, 2010, at 5:57 PM, Doug Herr wrote:

> I spent much of the last week near Lake Tahoe, at a creek where Kokanee 
> Salmon were running upstream to spawn.  The local Black Bears had 
> discovered the salmon run and were feasting on the fish to put on weight 
> for their winter sleep.
> 
> The Black Bear (Ursus americanus) is the smallest of the bears typically 
> found in North America, and despite its name its fur can be a variety of 
> colors from black to almost white.  The Black Bear is less aggressive than 
> the Grizzly Bear, and since the species evolved at a time when several 
> large land predators such as Dire Wolf, Saber-tooth Cat and Grizzly Bear 
> were preying on it, the Black Bear thinks of itself as a prey species.  
> The Black Bear is fully capable of inflicting serious injury to humans but 
> because it thinks of itself as a prey species most often it will run 
> rather than attack.
> 
> On several occasions during the week I encountered Blondie and BooBoo, 
> mother and cub, and over the course of these encounters she learned that I 
> was not interested in eating her or her cub, and I learned that as long as 
> nobody threatened her cub she was no threat to people.
> 
> Blondie:
> http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490124.jpg
> http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490216.jpg
> http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490221.jpg
> http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490224.jpg
> http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490235.jpg
> 
> BooBoo:
> http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490071.jpg
> http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490239.jpg
> http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1500003.jpg
> 
> At the beginning of the week it was clear that BooBoo was still very 
> dependent on Blondie for food.
> http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490188.jpg
> http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490079.jpg
> http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490369.jpg
> 
> Blondie is a good hunter:
> http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1500034.jpg
> http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1500044.jpg
> http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1500050.jpg
> http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490209.jpg
> http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490098.jpg
> 
> She demonstrated a clear preference for female salmon, frequently catching 
> a male then tossing it aside when she found it didn't contain roe.
> http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490361.jpg (male salmon)
> http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490310.jpg (female salmon)
> 
> Another bear was attracted to the creek one day.  This bear has an injured 
> or missing right eye:
> http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490256.jpg
> 
> choices, choices:
> http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490285.jpg
> 
> One Eye gets a fish:
> http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490249.jpg
> 
> Once Blondie and BooBoo showed up, One Eye ran off.  Don't mess with a 
> mother bear.
> 
> Life for a bear isn't all fishing.  BooBoo declares play time:
> http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490148.jpg
> http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490135.jpg
> http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490141.jpg
> http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490143.jpg
> 
> By the end of the week BooBoo was doing his own fishing:
> http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490331.jpg
> http://wildlightphoto.com/mammals/carnivores/L1490197.jpg
> 
> technical stuff:  R8/DMR
> 280mm f/4 APO & 180mm f/2.8 APO
> shoulder stock & monopod with 280, shoulder stock alone with the 180.  Any 
> weird colors are my responsibility.  All comments welcome.
> 
> Doug Herr
> Birdman of Sacramento
> http://www.wildlightphoto.com
> 
> 
> 
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