• Friday-What'sUP October 24 - 08:19 am

Frederic W. Koski may not have been out in the woods tracking bear, but it looks like he found some activity just the same. Looks like it could be a good size bear that made that foot print. I like how those bright colored leaves offset the bear track in the mud, almost like a natural frame.

Then Joyce Tormala found some bear prints in the sand, only her tracks were on Lake Superior's shoreline. I imagine the bears that left both Frederic's and Joyce's prints in the sand, willl soon begin preparing for the long winter hibernation. Does anyone know what determines when a bear begins its winter nap?

There's Paco, gazing out at Lake Superior.

Now, there is a dog that knows where to relax.

It is hard to find out how the bear knows when to hibernate. I did find this though ... The bear is alerted in part by hormonal changes that alter its bodily functions. But scientists have not proven exactly what triggers the hormones that encourage hibernation -- whether it's the shorter days, the feeling of coldness in the air, or the scarcity of food. Bears hibernate to conserve energy during a time when their habitats produce little in the way of food or water.

I think the salient point in the last picture should be "Is that a ships' wreckage at the waters edge?"

I see it Rowdy, looks a lot like those wood hulls on the beach near The Hurricane River. Great prints they found.

Earlier this Spring in our local paper there was a photo of a sow and five cubs. It was taken within a half mile of where we live. It is suspected that the sow is being a surrogate mother to a few of the cubs.

I will be glad when hibernation for them takes place. I am a little fearful when I go out into the woods. It must take a ton of food gathering to keep their appetite at satiation, especially for six bears. They were spotted in our backyard just a short time ago.

I would love to be able to photograph them AT A LONG DISTANCE!

Looks like the calm before the storm on all of the cam pictures this morning.

Lets have lunch with Soupy and remember him.;O)

Omigosh, so I wasn't the only one that ran home from elementary school (circa 1953-1954) to have lunch with Soupy Sales!

But I think he's still with us:


US Sen. Russ "Soupy" Feingold (D, WI)

I like the red maple leaf in the 1st picture.

Ever since this morning I saw today's cam notes bear-footin, I have had the old Bobby Parker song Bare Footin' going through my mind. Back to the 50's!

Last night on t.v.6 they showed a clip of a cougar in Bruce's Crossing. Well Moday night about 10:30p.m. my husband and I were coming up Quincy Hill in Hancock and we seen a Cougar leap across the road. We know now for sure what we seen.

I have spotted cougar tracks before back at the
Centennial #2 and also on the way out to High Rock
Bay, but never actually saw one. Wow, at Quincy
Hill, they are really coming into town, is their
food supply changing?