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Brown bears are on the lookout for higher sites for their winter sleep; more than one sleeping quarter is certainly prepared. Moss and other stuff from the forest is heaped and the surface is trampled down. Root sides of trees uprooted  by storms are investigated – there are many possibilities. The site must be high up so that the bed won’t turn wet. Pregnant female bears expect their cubs to be born in January. The hibernating sites of this year’s young and the female bear are nearby. Fully grown male bears don’t need the company of anyone.

 

Now to Triin’s track photo: the trace of the forepaw on the ground is short and broad, at the tip of the five toes sometimes the nails can be seen. The imprint of the hind paw would be „as if made by a human“. Bear tracks are measured by width, to tell the animal's age: 6-9 centimetres tracks belong to cubs born this year, they move with the female bear. Tracks slightly over or under 10 centimetres in width belong to 1-2 year young. Larger marks are those of mature bears, there the length of the hind paw imprint is noted too. The owner of a 25 centimetres long back paw mark is a respectably-sized individual.