Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Bear trails.



Bears are constantly on the move throughout their life. When travelling for large distances they use a system of trails that is believed to be several hundred years old. This system optimally connects their various hunting grounds and hibernation places.




The bear trail system is especially dense and entangled around salmon spawning rivers.




The ground under the trails is strongly compacted through the years by the paws of these heavy animals. Sometimes the grounds are so tight that you won’t even see the claw marks. It is often much easier to use these bear than going through virgin tundra for humans. However, there are certain drawbacks in such travel, for example, sudden close encounters with rightful owners of this system, the bears, are very frequent, especially in the places with tall grass around.




These are the Kronotsky Nature Reserve rangers on a bear trail. They are alert and armed with signal flairs. Usually, bears are very polite and give right of way to humans despite the fact that they are rightful owners of these roads of tundra.

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