BEAR CUB CRIES while MAMA BEAR PLAYS

🐻💦🤎 I'm very happy to report that I got my first-of-season visit from a Mama Bear with her one little cub! (Yesterday afternoon.) That tiny cub made the cutest little gruntle-sounds throughout the entire visit. Absolutely swoon-worthy. This may be Pandy with her very first cub/litter? Not entirely sure about identity yet. This visit sure made me happy, though. Mama Bear seemed mighty happy, too. Our region is in a horrific drought right now (a 35" rain deficit, to date), so I bet the big Rub-a-Dub-Tub of newly-refreshed water was just what this Mama Bear ordered. She sure loved playing with the Rubber Ducky, didn't she? Poor little cub was probably feeling dehydrated. Hopefully when Mom went to scold her cub for running off, she went and gave him a good nursing. (Looked like she was about to drop her cub into the tub, but thought better of the idea when she considered the depth of the water. If she had gone through with that idea, I'm sure she would have pulled the cub right back out of the water.) Hopefully this sweet pair will return to visit again. I do wonder if Pandy(?) originally had two cubs in the litter but already lost one. (The mortality rate for a cub in its first year is truly dismal -- hovering near 50%.) Typically I see Mama bears in this more rural area with 2 and 3 cubs. This historic drought has really taken a toll on wildlife in the area. I likely won't see as much wildlife this year until this region gets more rainfall. https://wlos.com/news/local/candler-appalachian-wildlife-refuge-animals-wildlife-rehabilitation-center-warm-weather-drought-water-sources-fish-vulnerable-mountaintrue-predators-populations-habitat-native-ecosytems-fire