Bear Tree

The Bear Tree is a large ponderosa pine tree located just past the end of the Duck Pond and Apache Trails that has been scarred on one side by bear claws. It is situated on a dry south facing slope along an old road that runs down to Jimmy Russell Road and the St. Mary's Road. This forest is home to a number of huge western larch and ponderosa pine veterans and some big snags that are ideal nesting sites for a variety of woodpeckers. Mule deer and elk are frequent users of this area and the slopes of Sunflower Hill to the south.

It is not uncommon to see bear
claw marks on trees in the Nature Park. Sometimes the marks are indications
of an adult bear stretching up and sharpening its claws like a cat on a scratching post. Sometimes you see
sets of claw marks rising many metres
up a tree, an indication that the bear, probably a cub, has been startled and climbed up the tree for protection.

The bear tree is situated in a mixed ponderosa pine/ western larch/Douglas fir forest on the southern slopes of Myrtle Mountain. This is a relatively dry, open forest with a large number of big old veteran trees that have survived numerous fires. As well there are a number of large dead snags in the area that provide ideal nesting sites for woodpeckers and other cavity nesting birds. The importance of these birds and the snags that provide them with nesting areas can not be underestimated. Outside the Nature Park, modern logging operations are now wrestling with the need to maintain old snags to keep the forest healthy.

 


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