Black Bear Scat Spotted in Herrontown Woods?

Herrontown Woods neighbor Paul Schedl, a frequent hiker in the preserve, helps out by alerting me to any downed trees blocking the trails. 

His email this week was about a sighting of a different sort. "Bear scat," he asked? I forwarded Paul's photos to Jim Ferry, Princeton's Animal Control Officer, who confirmed. "Very good chance yes! Sightings have come and gone this year but yes, we've had several sightings this summer. No issues, just sightings."

Typically, the occasional bear sightings in Princeton are of young males searching for new territory. Previous posts on this blog about black bears show them most commonly coming through in late spring or early summer, with mid-August being the latest documented here, until now. 

The animal control officer did not seem particularly concerned, in terms of hiker safety. There are specific ways to behave when you see a black bear in the woods. If you'd like to brush up on your etiquette for black bear encounters, here is some info, including my advice tailored to Princetonians. 

The municipal website mentions fruits and nuts in the bears' diet, and some of the seeds in this scat look a lot like pawpaw seeds. The pawpaws are starting to drop to the ground in our two pawpaw patches near Veblen House.