Does a wild bear leave scat in the woods? Maybe...

I went to retrieve a trail camera from Mission Creek Park yesterday.

I had put the trail cam up to investigate whether a black bear had been in the area - based on two piles of scat found several weeks ago.  The two piles of scat were found on an island in the middle of a mixed wetland of Red Maples, Black Ash, and willow shrubs.  A well-used wildlife trail led to and from the island - I did not look at the trail until after I had walked over it, obliterating any possible tracks.  In consultation with several people, based on the size and composition of the scat and the width of the trail to the island my best guess was that a young Black Bear was using the area. 

Possible Black Bear scat - nearly 2 inches in diameter

An older pile of scat - contains plant fibers and possibly dear hair

After consulting with staff from the Mt. Pleasant Parks & Recreation Department the decision was made to put a trail cam in place for a couple of weeks to see if anything was using the trail. After two weeks, the trail cam came up with nothing other than a few poor photographs of White-tailed Deer.  My favorite is below.

A doe and two of last year's fawns walked through only 9 minutes before I removed the camera.

So was there a Black Bear at Mission Creek Park?  My feeling is that yes, earlier this Spring there was a yearling (or two-year old) Black Bear there.  It was probably feeding on new grass and road-killed deer based on the scat. 

Is it still there? I don't think so.  No one has reported any bear sighting.  The trail has closed back in to deer-like dimensions.  I haven't seen any additional scat piles.  The scat piles that still remain are breaking down due to weather and insect activity.  With nice weather, the increased use of the park probably discouraged the bear from sticking around.

While it would be nice to say definitively that yes there is/was a bear on the outskirts of Mt. Pleasant, the reaction of the public would probably not be of an entirely positive nature.  It was nice to think, if even for a couple of weeks, that Mt. Pleasant was a little bit wilder.