Scat of the Ursus americanus

Black bear poop on the Pine Meadow Trail, Harriman State Park


Note the bluish-purple color of the scat, seeds and some mammal hairs.

"Because the digestive system of the bear is better adapted to handling meat than fruit, anyone who has followed many bear trails in blueberry country can attest to the fact that this fruit forms a major part of the grizzly's and black bear's diet in late and summer and fall."

- Bradford Angier, Field Guide to Edible Wild Pants, 1974.

Cyanocitta cristata

Dead Blue Jay in the yard, near feeder, evidently a victim of a fight for food.


"The Blue Jay is very pugnacious, often fighting with birds a great deal larger than itself."

- H. E. Hershey, Otoe Co., Neb., The Oologist monthly, 
Vol. VII, no 1, 1890