Black Bear scat

About the most uninspiring photo I could possibly post, but it serves as a memory of our final day of a week's holiday down to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. On this final day, 17 September 2012, we drove from Kalispell, where we had spent the night, north through Glacier National Park. Continuing north, we drove through the adjoining Waterton Lakes National Park, stopping to admire the old Prince of Wales Hotel and the beautiful view from there. We also called in at the Visitor Centre, where we were told that a Black Bear had been hanging around the place. No sign of it when we were there, but I discovered this tell-tale sign (full of seeds) on the grass outside the building. Knowing that that was probably the closest we were going to come to seeing a bear, I just had to take a photo of this. However, we then drove along the Red Rock Canyon Road and were happy as can be to see a Black Bear on a distant hill slope. Very distant photos, but at least we saw a Black Bear : )

■Spring diet may include:
■carcasses of winter killed animals
■overwintered bear berries
■poplar buds
■horsetails
■sedges
■dandelions
■peavines and clovers
■moose and caribou calves

■Summer diet may include:
■sarsaparilla
■peavine
■ants and other insects
■fish

■Autumn diet may include berries, particularly red buffaloberries in mountain regions, and blueberries and other berries in the boreal forest.
■In years of berry failures, black bears may seek out human refuse.

Taken from www.srd.alberta.ca/FishWildlife/WildSpecies/Mammals/Bears...