So, most of you that follow my pictures know that I spend a lot of time at Wekiwa Springs State Park, here in Florida. It's basically my backyard wildlife spot. And you know that I have a lot of cool experiences out there with wildlife, bears, deer, bobcats, owls, etc. But the past couple days have been the icing on the cake...the best thing I could hope to experience. What could be sooo cool?
A friend and I have been following a few bears out there. One has a cub, but it's not this year's. It's probably a year old. I see bears out there quite frequently...Probably about 50% of the times I'm there. Recently I've been getting out there two to three times a week.
On this particular day, I was only finding tracks. It was like they did all their moving during the night and I missed them. It was after 8am. Typically, but not always, if you haven't seen a bear by this time, you are likely to not see one.
On my way back to the Jeep, I decided to go up this one service road where I had seen a coyote earlier in the morning to see if I could find him. I had also seen a bear up there once too. I was coming over the top of this hill (what we call hills in Florida) and I could see something black. I always have to assume when I see something black, it could be a bear. So I stop to take a better look and it moves. So it's likely a bear. The other
possibility is a hog. I have seen a black hog out there a few times. So I park my bike and start to walk closer. It's definitely a bear moving off the road into the woods. Then I see something smaller under a palm frond. It's a tiny little cub. I have never seen a cub quite this small, especially in Florida. So I was quite excited. I could tell he was playing with something. Then I realized he was wrestling with another cub. Two cubs! This is way cool. So I crouch down and wait for them to go through an opening so I can get a good shot. Mama goes through, then one cub, then the second cub. THEN a third cub! Triplets! Totally awesome. Mama looked at me a couple times so I have to assume she knew I was there, but she didn't mind. The cubs laid down for a bit. Mama sat on her butt and started grooming herself. Then the cubs started playing. They wrestled with each other. They climbed on trees and sticks riding them like a pole vault. They were even swinging on vines like monkeys.
I spent about a half hour with them until they just wandered off. I didn't get any great photos, because the brush was so thick and lighting was low. But the experience was so awesome. The next day I found them again...earlier in the morning and not quite in the same area. I got to watch them again for about a half hour before they wandered off. I had seen this bear about a week prior to this. I had no idea she was prego with trips. The only thing that can really top this is to see them again and have them come out in the open more and pose for me in perfect light. Just puttin' that out there.
I realize not everyone gets as excited about this stuff as me, but hopefully it will at least make your day a little brighter. I hope you enjoy the pics and video I DID get. I love to share. Hope to see them again soon.
Check out the short video I put together below.