Patrick Durkin

Heavy rains and sodden fields in autumn often block farmers from harvesting cornfields before winter.
When that happens north of Hwy. 10, it’s no surprise weeks later when a combine cutting crops from the frozen fields kills or cripples denned-up black bears.
Contrary to assumption, not all bears burrow beneath stumps or underground to snore through winter. Bears can den in a culvert between fields or beneath roads, or the thick upper branches of fallen trees. Still other bears curl into subtle nest-den depressions they scrape into the interior of standing cornfields.