Wildlife facts – on rubtrees

Many trees surrounding Wuikinuxv village are high-use rubtrees by grizzlies (and a few brave black bears). Rubtrees are generally on major bear trails between foraging habitat or day dens. Bears may use a pitchy tree for medicine, a tree with hard bark or branch stubs for a good scratch, but mostly for marking their presence with scent and digging at the base of the tree to other bears in the area. 

Rubtrees also provide productive sampling sites for hair samples! Here is @msscottr [ Scott Rogers ] on a rubtree near Katit on the Wanukv river. The Wuikinuxv Bear Project samples upwards of five rubtrees just around the village, with many of the baited sites on the territory having rubtrees nearby as well.

Did you know that the barbed wire helps snag tufts of hair. Fortunately bears have a thick enough hide this doesn’t hurt them.

Big thanks to Patagonia for keeping us warm and dry throughout our fieldwork.

#raincoastscience #grizzly #wildlifecameras #cameratrap #WuikinuxvBearProject #Wuikinuxv #Wanukv #greatbearrainforest #didyouknow

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