Wandering Aimlessly
A Winter Bear Tale
by Phil Burkhouse
I heard an interesting bear tale through the grapevine that happened to one of Mary’s cousins in the northern climes of Cameron County almost exactly a year ago. As most people who are woods walkers are aware, bears go into slumber in late fall and, while some do occasionally come out for a winter wander, most sleep the winter months away in a secure nest.
Bears find a denning sight in late fall that could be in a stone formation, cave, blow down, or in the top of a downed tree. During my reign of terror I have located five or six bear dens in the winter, but I usually locate them with my ears. As I wander about in late February and March in search of used elk horns I sometimes detect high pitch squealing and whining similar to those made by a human infant.