Black Bear

I have spent the last couple of weeks around the North Carolina coast area, The weather hasnt been overly kind but its given me time to explore the area,I have found an area with a good number of Black Bear which can be seen normally at distance early and late in the day,I went there yesterday and found a mother and cub at distance but knew there was a track which lead near by so i very slowly drove there as i didnt know if there were other bears nearby but sleeping the the long uncut crops,I was lucky and although the cub didnt like the car the mother was very relaxed and i managed my best bear shots so far, As the light faded i checked another area where i have seen bear at dusk and found a very large male bear-thank god for the D3's high ISO capacity as i have to shoot at ISO 2000 to get aything like a shutter speed,Back again tonight for a few days so fingers crossed they are still around-Great to be able to find such animals that have probably never seen a photographer before and spend time with then alone

Nikon D300 600f4vr+1.4x 1/125@f8 ISO 400

Very nice capture Dave, looking forward to seeing more

Best regards

Andy...

Nice hot Dave. Is it me or is the mother a bit skinny looking or is that the norm for a new mother ? Never seen them in the wild before so apology if it's a dumb question.

Hi Trevor
You are right she is abit scrawny looking and in need of a good meal,Looking at the bear poo i have seen they are eating corn and berries and if they can catch one -deer, I guess the young one is taking its toll on her

Dave

Great stuff Dave
Looking again I keep wondering if the oof cub is a distraction. Then I look again and can't decide !
Cheers
JohnR

Hi Dave,
A good strong image with the diagonal composition working great. I like the seperation between mother and cub and how their dark fur really makes them stand out so clearly from their suroundings.

Envious of you having these to work with on your local patch Dave.

Enjoy!!



Mark

Hi Dave,

You've captured a really nice encounter and I too am very envious. The sow has really suffered for her cub, I hope she finds enough energy rich food to pull through the winter. Now that you have found them, I am also looking forward to seeing more from you

Brett

Hi Dave,
Lovely shot, looks like they are coming out on parade. I would be be particularly careful around the scrawny one she might see you as a solution to her hunger probs.
Pete

Great work, Dave. This poor mom is soooooooooo skinny. I feel so sorry for her and her baby. I would have been tempted to feed them although I know I shouldn't, and would not have. We keep slurping up their hunting territory so what can we expect.

Great looking shot Dave, like the composition here and I think the OOF cub adds to the story once you recognise the scrawiness of mum

Exciting times for you Dave...............different varieties of wildlife!!

Nicely done

Alan

Hi David
I looked out for these whilst I was in the US but never saw any, you have done well to find some as they are very hard to see and even harder to get images. Hope you have the chance to get many more.

Great work