Mid-Season Mama

August has arrived and the Black Cherry Trees in Shenandoah National Park are loaded with cherries which will be ripe within a week. The onset of cherry season always signals the middle of the season for me. Black Bears will feast on cherries for only a month before transitioning to acorns and hickory nuts which will comprise 80-90% of their diet from early September through the end of November.  This evening I got to catch up with one of my favorite mama bears and her two cubs. They are looking fantastic and it was great to see them around the midway point of this season. I first saw this sow with her 2016 cubs in April and it has been very special to watch them grow up for the last 3.5 months. I hope I get to see them regularly all through the fall too.