I’ll just be on my way
Marlan Woodside took this photo on his property in the Tehachapi Valley of a young Black Bear trotting away after being spotted.
Black bears are permanent, yearround residents of the Tehachapi Mountains, but they are most likely to be seen in the warmer, drier months. These bears are the subspecies known as California Black Bears (Ursus americanus californiensis) and some individuals are light brown, cinnamon or even blonde in coloration, while Eastern Black Bears tend to have shiny, coal black fur. California Black Bears often have a white blaze on their chests. Younger California Black Bears and those that live in shaded, more heavily forested areas also tend to be darker.
Black bears prefer areas with larger trees that are forested or wooded, providing them with tall trees to climb when they feel threatened. This behavior may have originated when Black Bears coexisted with larger, more aggressive bear species like the now extinct California Grizzly, which was once found in the Tehachapi Mountains in large numbers. It was grizzlies that provided the name Bear Valley and Bear Mountain, and the Tehachapi Mountains were an area of overlap between grizzlies, which were most common in the lower half of the state, and Black Bears, which were more common in the northern half.
Despite this preference for habitat with large trees, Black Bears are also commonly found in areas with smaller trees like Pinyon Pine and California Juniper, and in the past century the Sand Canyon area has consistently provided the most bear sightings in the Tehachapi area.
The Nuwä (Kawaiisu or Southern Paiute) word for Black Bear is Odokid Mo’orizh, pronounced ohDOH-kid moh’oh-REEZ.
NATURAL SIGHTINGS is a regular feature of the Tehachapi News edited by Jon Hammond which showcases photos of the natural beauty that enhances the quality of life in Tehachapi. If you have a good quality image of plants, animals, insects, trees, birds, weather phenomena, etc., taken in the Tehachapi area, you may submit it to the Tehachapi News. Submissions can be dropped by the News office in the form of a print or CD, or sent by email to: editorial@tehachapinews.com.