We're continuing to host MSU students studying wildlife. On a November 1 hike with them we discovered a dead tree a bear had ripped into in search of insects. Here, one of the students compares his hand and fingernails to the marks the bear left with his claws. We found plenty of fresh bear scat. Several scats contained bird seed, meaning that a neighbor is not being careful with their bird feeders. Unfortunately, a fed bear is a dead bear whether the feeding is intentional or not. Other scat contained unidentifiable debris and small fruit pits; we showed pictures to Fish and Wildlife bear expert Kevin Frey, who said it may be shoots of red hawthorne and rosehips from wild roses.