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Unafraid of heights, or much else

Unafraid of heights, or much else


Posted by editor Tuesday, December 8, 2009 - 13:46
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Nick Trombetta and Judy Warren took these photos of a Black Bear (Ursus americanus) on the north side of Hart Flat near Keene. While adult grizzly bears are generally too heavy for much climbing, adult black bears have no problem scrambling up a tree with amazing speed and will usually do so when they feel threatened. The fully-grown bear in these photos is visible as it scales a very tall Grey Pine (Pinus sabiniana). Both the now-extinct California Grizzly (Ursus arctos californicus) and smaller black bears were commonly found in the Tehachapi area prior to the Gold Rush, and Bear Valley and Bear Mountain are named for a grizzly, not a black bear. The Nüwa (Kawaiisu) Indian word for grizzly is po-git and the words for black bear are odo-kid mo’o-rees.

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