ABR ON FACEBOOK – Appalachian Bear Rescue. Curator Janet’s report.

The Great Smoky Mountains are putting on a beautiful display today as the fall foliage is peaking with colorful trees such as sugar maple, scarlet oak, sweet gum, red maple, and hickory. We wonder if bears appreciate the colors as much as we do. We know that bears see in color, and a study conducted by researchers Ellis Bacon and Gordon Burghardt of the University of Tennessee concluded that black bears do indeed discriminate between shades of color.

Bears have a front row seat to changing seasons. A black bear’s ability to climb allows them to have one of the best vantage points to see nature's beauty on display. Although our three resident bears aren’t yet roaming our beautiful mountains, they aren’t missing out on the changing foliage. Our wild enclosures are full of a variety of fall colors as well. Today’s observation seemed to find the bears enjoying a pleasant fall day, and perhaps, enjoying the beauty around them. Displaying a healthy pelage with their dark, winter coats coming in, our velvety black bears enhanced their colorful enclosure. In a few weeks, our bears will be free to roam the mountains; their home.

As much as ABR provides for them, we are just a temporary home and an inadequate one compared to the beauty of their natural habitat. One of the most frequent questions we are asked is why the three would not be released together since they have formed such a bond? Bears have strong instincts with a keen drive to “home.” Another University of Tennessee study by Beeman and Pelton concluded that a bear’s home range likely provides psychic needs as well as physical ones. The memory of home is intense and motivates bears to traverse long distances to return to their home territory. For this reason, bears are released near the location where they were found to prevent them from having to travel long distances, possibly crossing highways or interstates to return home. Our bears have formed a band of brothers because they are confined in a small area.

Once released, they will begin to lead a bear’s solitary life. A recent story shared by former ABR curator, Daryl Ratajczak about an ABR resident named Houdini further explains why bears who come from different areas are not released together. You can read Daryl’s blog at: nemophilosophy.

Please consider joining our new membership program. Individual and Family Memberships are available. Noragami Episode 11 English Dub more. You’ll receive a membership card, a weatherproof ABR logo decal, and free access to most classes and events offered at our Trillium Cove Visitor and Education Center. For more information, click on the link below. See More. See Less.

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