Stinky bears

cougarmagic · Post by **cougarmagic** » Mon Aug 08, 2011 9:05 pm

She's a big girl, and she likes to smell pretty, so she's really into the scent lure I put down. Lookin a bit scruffy, but I think her fur is shedding because of the hot weather, since all the other animals here look a bit ruffled as well. The camera is moving because cub #1 is swatting it around, despite two wood screws, a cable lock, and a padlock!

Post by **HikeUp** » Mon Aug 08, 2011 10:15 pm

That is too damn funny.

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Tue Aug 09, 2011 7:52 am

Nice pix. Definitely a mama bear.

HJ

cougarmagic · Post by **cougarmagic** » Tue Aug 09, 2011 12:27 pm

Hikin_Jim wrote: ↑Definitely a mama bear.

HJ

Somebody needs to give her some Mardi Gras beads.

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Tue Aug 09, 2011 2:17 pm

Mike P · Post by **Mike P** » Tue Aug 09, 2011 6:43 pm

Pure ursiporn!

cougarmagic · Post by **cougarmagic** » Tue Aug 09, 2011 7:40 pm

As Matt says, I can never run for public office. I have some weird stuff on my laptop!

Mike - do black bears get mange, and do you think she has it? She seems to have almost no fur on her neck. Sometimes the IR makes fur look funny though, so a daytime shot would be better.

Mike P · Post by **Mike P** » Tue Aug 09, 2011 11:43 pm

cougarmagic wrote: ↑ Mike - do black bears get mange, and do you think she has it? She seems to have almost no fur on her neck. Sometimes the IR makes fur look funny though, so a daytime shot would be better.

Yup, bears can get mange! I think it is sarcoptic mange. I need to look it up. There are many coyotes around here (Glendora) that have mange so it's certainly possible to have the contact with infected animals. Mama bear looks alopecic around the neck region and possibly the face. The area around the mammary glands: I assumed the hairlessness was due to suckling but could be related to possible mange. It would be interesting to see if the cub was similarly afflicted.

But like you said, it could be the lighting. Can you ask them to swing by in the daylight?

I am going to look into this a little further. Very interesting...

cougarmagic · Post by **cougarmagic** » Wed Aug 10, 2011 10:03 am

Let me know what you find out. Should I sneak her some ivermectin? (I'm only half kidding...) I hope she's not suffering. It sounds like an awful thing to have.

Here's a shot of her back in June. Looks fine except for a bit of hair loss around the face maybe. Cub looks great.

rokclimbr · Post by **rokclimbr** » Thu Aug 11, 2011 5:42 pm

This is amazing! I used to chase bears for a living and she does look a bit odd to me I hope it's not mange....