Tahoe bears: Videos show touching, rarely seen moments of bear families as they emerge from hibernation

TAHOE CITY, Calif. - A Lake Tahoe bear advocacy group is offering some rarely seen, close-up and intimate images of mother bears and their cubs as they emerge from their dens after months of hibernation.  

The BEAR League has fixed cameras in multiple dens in the Tahoe Area, where the non-profit has been documenting black bear sows with their newborns this past winter. 

CubCam 26

It’s part of the group's CubCam 26 project.

Mother bears often claim crawl spaces under homes or porches as their dens. So experts advise homeowners in bear country to securely seal those spaces to prevent bears from entering.

"When cubs are born under a home or deck, they can’t be moved without risking the death of the cubs," the BEAR League explained on its website, noting black bears are born mid-January.

The group said some understanding and cooperative homeowners have allowed its team to set up "specially designed, unobtrusive camera rigs under their homes" to monitor the bears and make sure they are safe until they leave their dens in the spring.

On Tuesday, the league posted that two bear families it has been observing have already exited their dens for good. 

The most recent departure was just the day before, involving a mama bear named MC and her cub CC.

The pair was only recently discovered by the owners of the home where the bears had been living for months. 

"Mama ’MC’ and her cub ‘CC’ were there all winter but the homeowners had no clue. CC is extremely quiet, so that might explain it," the BEAR League posted on social media on Sunday, along with video of the sweet interaction between the mother and her cub.

Last week, another family, Ursula and her cubs Polaris and Arcturus, left their den.

In a touching post, the league shared how Ursula prepared for the departure by taking her cubs out late on a recent night, giving them their first tutorial on how to climb a tree, one of the first lessons for the real world and a crucial survival skill. 

"Then, she took them out in the day time and nursed them in the open air, ever watchful.  And finally, she told the kids it was time to go," the league wrote, adding, "Just that simple," as the group invited viewers to turn up the sound on the video to hear the mother calling on her cubs to follow her. 

Insights and education 

Dig deeper:

The BEAR League, with the motto "People living in harmony with bears," hopes that through these insights and rare views into bear habitats, its team will help the public understand these animals.   

The non-profit organization is almost entirely run by volunteers whose mission is to keep Tahoe bears safe. 

"The ‘E’ in BEAR League’s name stands for ‘Education’, and we love being able to provide information about bears that many people would otherwise not get unless they spent years in the field or in a library," the group shared in a post last week. 

Rose and her 3 cubs 

In that same post, the league shared that they sensed a bear family, Rose and her three cubs, were close to venturing out from their den soon, so the team placed a camera outside.

"Good thing we did, because Rose brought the whole family out for about 45 minutes today.  The cubs played a bit, tried climbing on a post, and for about 20 minutes, they nursed," the group wrote. 

The league said the video was immense in value, providing a privileged and close-up look into Mother Nature in action. 

"We’ve gotten video similar to this during the CubCam project, but none as close or clear as this clip.  It’s incredibly rare to get to see this, especially with three cubs," the group shared, adding, "BEAR League’s CubCam project has produced hundreds of hours of footage that even professional bear biologists and wildlife officials don’t get to see on a regular basis."

Sierra and Scooter

Last week, the league also shared images of how a mother bear named Sierra, with only cub, kept her little guy occupied in their den. 

"Single cubs have no siblings to play with, so Mom serves as Scooter's playmate and jungle gym," the team wrote. "Sierra keeps a close eye on him to make sure he stays out of trouble, too.  At the end of the day, though, a growing cub needs to sleep, so mom makes sure he’s tucked in for the night." 

SEE ALSO: Big Bear's Jackie and Shadow welcome two eaglets

Ursula protects her cubs

Earlier this month, the league highlighted some tense moments when a male black bear attempted to break into Ursula's den.

"He sat down by the den entrance, and Ursula detected him almost immediately," the CubCam team shared. "Watch what a highly stressed mother bear does when she knows her cubs lives are in danger. She licks her lips repeatedly and her lower jaw trembles as she quietly communicates to the cubs to stay quiet and remain in the nest."

The situation escalated as the male bear didn't seem to react to the mother's aggressive and protective move to charge the den entrance. 

"She keeps communicating with the cubs, who quietly cower in the nest while she charges the bear outside again," the team explained. Ultimately, the male bear leaves the area, but only after marking it with urine.  

The team again stressed how extremely rare it is to capture this type of interaction. 

"During our CubCam project, we’ve been fortunate to witness a lot of bear behavior that otherwise goes unseen by humans. We’ve seen bears come up to dens like this in the past, but this is definitely the most compelling footage we’ve obtained to date," the team said. "We’re glad it ended well, but it’s a stark reminder that nature can be very dangerous for bear cubs."

FAQ

Dig deeper:

As part of its project, the league invited the public to visit its frequently asked questions page, where they strive to address questions people have about CubCam and other inquiries about Tahoe bears and their hibernating habits.

One question often presented to the group is about bears that have been tagged.

BEAR League stressed that it does not place markers on the animals, and any ear tag or collar on a bear was done by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, which identifies and tracks bears.

The league noted that in an effort to protect the bears in its videos, it "blurs" ear tags to prevent identification.  

"If the California Department of Fish and Wildlife sees the tag number, they can designate the bear a ‘conflict bear’, which never ends well for the bear or her cubs," the league said.

People are also curious about how many bears are typically in a litter. 

"The number of cubs is dependent on a lot of factors, but a primary one is food availability during the fall and winter," league experts explained. "If a mom has eaten well during the fall and early winter, multiple cubs are a higher probability."

While rare, they said they’ve seen black bear litters as big as five cubs.  

"And the reality is the smaller the litter the more likely all the cubs will survive to adulthood as feeding four or five cubs and keeping them all safe once they’re out of the den is a big challenge," the group explained on its FAQ page. 

The BEAR League also addressed whether the bears were aware of the camera in their den.

The group said that while the bears know the cameras are there, the specially designed devices use infrared light that is "invisible to the bears."

It’s actually near complete darkness in the dens, and the camera rigs that are inserted into the space were created to minimize the disturbance to the animals, the BEAR League explained.

After the storm

If you were sidelined and stuck indoors during last week’s powerful spring storm, you were in "beary" good company.

Tuesday’s post and update showed how, after being cooped up from days of harsh weather, Rose and her cubs were beginning to make their way outdoors.

"Tahoe got a late-season snowstorm over the weekend and that meant playtime for Oakley, Echo and Storm has been limited to inside the den.  The snow has already started to melt, though, and Rose is probably grateful for the warmer weather.  It also gave her the chance to get hydrated by eating some of the snow," the league shared. 

It added that it’s now been months since the mother bear has gone without food and water, "and it will be only a short time before she takes the cubs out into the world to find food."

Big picture view:

BEAR League has shared these tender moments with care and affection for these animals they've gotten to know and grown attached to. 

And as the league's experts watched as Ursula and her cubs left their den, it's clear they're aware of what a gift it has been to be able to get a window into the lives of these intelligent creatures often considered guardians of the forest. 

"BEAR League CubCam Team get very attached to the families we follow each winter with den cameras.  But we know in every case, the day will quickly arrive when mom decides it's time to head out into the big world outside the den.  It’s a predictable cycle," the CubCam team wrote. "It’s a cycle that has repeated for thousands of years, long before humans built homes in the forest where the bears live.  We wish Ursula, Polaris and Arcturus the best out in the scary human world that they inhabit." 

This story was reported from Oakland, Calif.