Since ABR is located in a forested area close to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, we often have other critters who visit.  Some, like the crows in today’s post, come to help themselves to the bounty of food that the curators throw over the fence into the Wild Enclosure.  As you very likely know, crows can be very noisy.  A flock (the correct term for several crows together is a murder of crows!) came to snag some of the berries.  Although it’s obvious to us that a bear – even a bear cub – is larger than a crow, the noisy crows can be very unsettling to a young cub.

It has been very hot recently, so the cubs were foraging in the shade of the trees where it was a few degrees cooler.

Finnegan Bear foraging in the shade of the tree.

Andy and Eliza Bear forage in the shade, also.

Noisy crows frighten little Eliza Bear.

Eliza stays close to a tree so she can escape if needed.

Eliza continues to forage, but cautiously.

A very popular item on the menu for the cubs (and by default, for the crows) was frozen blueberries.  In this heat, the frozen berries were a real treat!