On the trees in the Bieszczady Mountains you can observe longitudinal traces. Bark defects are most often observed on firs, less often on other species. Characteristic wounds are the work of one of the Bieszczady predators.
Tourists wandering the Bieszczady trails can come across unusual wounds on trees, mainly fir, sometimes ash, larch or spruces.
– These are traces of feeding bears – said spokesman for the Regional Directorate of State Forests in Krosno Edward Marszałek.
As he explained, the bears rip the bark with claws, and then scrape the softener with choppers, supplementing their diet with microelements from tree juices. Such behaviors have been observed for a long time. It happens that several dozen fellow fires fall prey with the prey of one individual.
– This was the case in 2003 in the vicinity of Chmiel near Otryt, where in one forest separation the Bear saw 30 trees from the bark, and in 2004 to July, in the Polana forestry, over 120 firs were charged from the bark by the bear, the marshal said.
They have their preferences
As noted by the expert of bear customs, the forester Kazimierz Nóżka, these predators like trees with a smooth bark, with an even trunk and without knots.
– We have been observing this phenomenon for years, it has been basically only in spring and not every year. If the bark is stripped of the entire circumference of the trunk, then the tree, of course, dries, but most often it is fragmentary tearing, which allows the tree to last a long time, despite the fact that the wound is exposed to the penetration of insects and mushrooms – he added.
Source of the main photo: RDLP Krosno@Facebook