It isn’t often that I get to see bear scat down here in Guelph, but in Parry Sound, there are many Black Bears, and while visiting the Sound for a trailing workshop, we came across some of their scat.

For me, it was an event. A highlight of the weekend visit with friends and practicing our trailing together as a crew. Black Bears are pretty majestic, if that’s the right word, and carry a weight, beyond their materiality, in my imagination of what is “wild”. Even if we don’t get to see the bear, their scat was plenty enough to get me thinking about the plants their consuming, how their digestion works, and how their being themselves impacts and plays with the land they make up and inhabit.

Big thanks to Diana Clements for organizing the workshop, and to Matt Nelson for teaching us.

To learn more :
Towards A Better Understanding of Scat
Tracking the American Black Bear by Preston Taylor. Self published, 2021.
Mammal Tracks and Sign by Mark Elbroch and Casey McFarland. Stackpole Books, 2019.
Forest Plants of Central Ontario by Brenda Chambers, Karen Legasy, and Cathy V. Bentley. Lone Pine Publishing, 1996.
Up North Again by Doug Bennet and Tim Tiner. McClelland & Stewart Inc, 1997.
Information on Trailing Evaluations from Tracker Certification North America