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Bears

 
When we first entered Cade's Cove last week, we saw wild turkeys everywhere.  We saw deer running in the meadows, but no bears.  We stopped at the visitor's center and talked to some other folks who were also looking for bears.  The ranger told us to look for the wild cherry trees, because that's where the bears would be.
 



Not much later, when we were stopped to admire some butterflies, some people came by and told us there were bears ahead.  It was easy to find them; there were several cars lined up along the roadside.


 
I was amazed at the way they would break the branches on the trees and drag the cherries closer to them.  These were not full grown bears, but they certainly were not cubs, either.



 
One of them got full and came down from the trees.  I have never seen people move so fast when it started down the tree. The bear basically ignored all of us, paused for a cherry-filled dump, then ambled off into a meadow.
 












It was fun watching them, and they were not nearly as loud as those howler monkeys! 

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