EISPIRATEN

going up the cold spring trail in santa barbara yesterday, i noticed a good amount of bear poo and tracks. cool!

i came across something that seemed odd to me though. a couple piles of bear dung were outside a den or some sort of spot that an animal seemed to be living in...i think?




bears don't live in dens, though, right? there was a ton of dung around it, but it was all berried and planty - so def not a lion. any ideas?

Ursus americanus

http://www.bear-tracker.com/blackbeardensandbeds.html

Bears definitely den in winter though they do seem to do it less so here in Southern California

thanks matt. i had no idea black bears denned. it seemed so weird to see that den 2 feet off a trail as well.

MC- which side of the divide were you on? Pretty surprising if you were on the front side.

rico -
we were on the front side, a half mile below camino cielo, towards montecito peak. i was very surprised as well, as this trail is well traveled. although...maybe people usually just turn around at the peak? idk, strange.

I disagree. Since this was in Santa Baarbara I'd say it was Sasquatchus californica ssp. cabrillo.

Even beyond the spur to Montecito Peak that trail sees a fair amount of use. Dang that's wild MC.