Splish, Splash, Takin’ a Bath: Bear Cubs Play in Water

Recently a friend gave me the brilliant idea to put out some “watering holes” in the forest on my property. Though we have several streams on our 17 acres, most of them are dry unless it just rained. With the temperature every afternoon in the 80s or 90s, water is hard to come by these days for our outdoor neighbors. 

So I went to Lowes and bought two sturdy black tubs, likely the kind most people use for making a small pond or mini water feature in their garden. I intended to dig these into the ground so they were not easy to move and looked more natural but the ground around here is hard as a rock and full of rocks. My attempts at digging a big hole to set the tubs in did not last long. Instead I decided to put them in a natural depression in one of the three streams that we have. 

I put one in one stream behind the house and the other in a stream next to the house. Then I positioned two trail cameras by each tub so I’d be able to see what happened. And guess what? The bears found my “watering holes” almost immediately! 

Now I get to enjoy the bears drinking, cooling off and playing in the water, and the bears get to have fresh (I change out the water every few days) water. It’s a win-win situation and results in many great moments when I view the trail camera footage and get to see animals using the “ponds.” 

My Mom, who lives in Austin, Texas, has a lot of deer in her neighborhood and as you likely know, the weather these days in Texas is pretty hot. She put out a few shallow tubs for the deer to get drinks and within a few days, she too had visitors! 

Every living thing on this earth needs four things to survive: food, water, shelter and space. Obviously depending on the animal, the requirement varies; an ant needs a whole lot less space than a black bear. We can help some animals with the food requirement–think birds, bees, butterflies, moths, toads, etc. With our larger wildlife like raccoons, bears, and coyotes, providing food is a bad idea for many reasons. Putting out water though is another story because in nature, water can be found naturally. In summer, it is often hard to come by. With changes to the way we manage our yards, we can help provide safe habitat, and even shelter for some animals. (Think wood piles, brush piles, leaving dead trees standing, leaf litter, hollow stems for bees, seed heads on flowers, etc)

Check out the bears in their new “pond!”

You may not own a giant piece of property in the middle of the woods, but you can still put out water for your outdoor neighbors. Think about putting out some tubs, or bird baths or other water sources where the animals can go for a reliable water source. I once saw a black bear get a drink from my bird bath! Your offering for water could be as simple as a dog bowl filled with cool water, or even a plastic tub from your spinach or lettuce. Put whatever vessel of water you’re offering in a place where the animals will feel safe– not in the open with no vegetation nearby. 

And because mosquitoes lay eggs in standing water, you do need to either regularly change out the water in these places, or add mosquito dunks so mosquitoes will be stopped in their tracks. These dunks will not hurt the bears, raccoons, opossums and other vertebrates that visit your new pond, but they will kill mosquitoes.

Good luck! I can’t wait to hear what animals you get at your “watering holes.”