Blueberries are sensational this year—big and abundant. But now is when bears around here switch to wild sarsaparilla berries, a favorite they will prefer for 3-4 weeks until they wane. Then it is back to blueberries that have a longer season of availability. Wild cherries can also distract bears from blueberries. A bigger distraction would be hazelnuts, but I haven’t seen many of them this year, which I don’t understand.
 Wild sarsaparilla - by Thon |
 Wild sarsaparilla |
The blueberry pictured is lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium), the common upland blueberry around here. I included two pictures of wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis)—one taken by Judy Thon today to show the ripe berries, and the other taken 52 years ago to show the plant form. One nice thing about these berries is that they grow in bunches, usually 3 bunches per plant, making them efficient to eat.
Thank you for all you do,
Lynn Rogers, Biologist, Wildlife Research Institute and North American Bear Center