Skip to main content

A Plug For Bears

    Hey. everyone. I was walking in the woods today and saw more signs that a bear is hanging about. I found another nice track at the base of a different sourwood tree and saw where the big guy was digging for grubs around a fallen tree. All this reminded me of a somewhat gross but interesting fact about bears.
    Around this time of year when they feel the call of nature to hibernate, they seek out a lot of weird things to eat. I'm talking about leaves, pine needles, bark. Their goal is to plug up the digestive track with this stuff so they don't have any excrement during hibernation. I'm sure they don't sit around and think this up but rather it is an instinctive thing.
   At any rate, in the spring, when they awaken, they discharge this plug. It is sometimes two foot long or more, quite massive and decidedly gross. Several times in the spring, here at the green retreat, I have come across these plugs. Trust me, it will freak you out. It's like, oh my gosh, what has happened here???
Could the creature who did this possibly still be alive? Then you start to look around for a dead body or something.
    I think that this bear that has been hanging about lately has been in 'plug mode' and is using the bark of these little sourwood trees for that purpose. Hey, they use the stuff to make sourwood honey so I assume it has some adhesive value.
    Isn't it marvelous, the things that animals do? I find nature fascinating and endlessly entertaining. From the Bear Place, I'm CE Wills.  
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Four Free Games

     Hey, everyone. If free games makes the start of a new week a little better, we're in luck. Check these out on your friendly, neighborhood app store. 1) Cowboys vs. Aliens vs. Ninjas- This is a dual stick shooter, much like Mini-Gore . You are an old-west cowboy with a vast array of weapons (earned gradually). You have to move and shoot, avoiding death, as you battle Ninjas and aliens. Some aliens are quite large. Some enemies are big Sumo Wrestlers. There are sword-wielding ninjas and these aliens that yield a mini-nuclear explosion when killed. When your enemies die they leave behind little stacks of money, or skulls. You collect these items because of a strange hobby of trophy grabbing for your macabre collection. Just kidding, the items can be spent or used as the game progresses. This is a good game and I played it for a while last night. 2) The Heist - A puzzle game with a twist. As you try to open a bank vault, you must face a series of different puz...
Post a Comment
Read more

Game Review: NFS, Hot Pursuit

    This game was one which I refused to download for a while, even though it was on sale for 99 cents. I thought that it looked boring and narrow. Boy, was I wrong! This game totally kicks butt. It is one of those rare games that will actually give you an adrenaline rush. It is that intense. The developers, EA Games, have recently updated the app to include two main avenues of play. You can either be the cops or the racers who are trying to evade the cops. As a racer you have to deal with cops trying to hit you and make you crash, cops buzzing you with helicopters, oncoming traffic, tack strips spread across the road and roadblocks. In the cop mode you are a cop and you are trying to stop a reckless racer by any means, fair or foul. As a racer you can use nitrous oxide for increased speed, overdrive capability and oil slicks. You also can jam the cops communication with a jamming unit. Like almost all games these days, it gets harder as you go along. I prefer my games to...
Post a Comment
Read more

Shadowgun: Killing The Windbreaker

    Hey, everyone. I thought it might be a good time for a bit of an update on the riveting game called Shadowgun. Consider this your spoiler alert and tune out if you want to.     Once you get past the dreaded Driller, things get better but you are certainly not out of the woods. You will want to make sure you keep a full clip in your gun as you stroll through the realm of the evil and crazy Dr. Simon. But hey, you're John Slade, the Shadowgun, and wherever you set your foot is the place to which your authority extends.      I love the way that some of the barriers disintegrate under the impact of bullets. I didn't learn this at my mother's knee but I darn sure know it now. I have learned that there are certain places it is good to plan on using the rocket launcher. Keep your stock of those filled. There are these transporter guys who are aggressive punks. The only way they respect you is if you kill them, so that's the way I roll. As...
3 comments
Read more