Bears -- A Geological Force

"Displacement of eroded sandstone by Ursus americanus."

I live at the bottom of a steep ridge wtih exposed sandstone rock strata at the top.  Pieces fall off Over centuries and millennia huge boulders have rolled partway down and stacked up upon each other. 

Once while visiting a favorite place, I found new rock shards everywhere and worked out where maybe a dumpster-size piece had come down since my last visit. Would like to have seen that happen, from a safe distance.

So you have your freeze-thaw cycles that split rock, and then there is gravity.

And bears.

Good ol' Ursus americanus, the American black bear, found almost everywhere, plays a part in shaping the landscape too.

At this time of year, the bears are feeding actively, and one food source is fatty grubs. They walk along the slopes, flipping over every likely rock within their strength range to learn if anything edible is underneath.

Since their mamas never taught them to put things back where you found them, the rocks just roll -- downhill.

Sure it's not much, but just think: thousands of bears over tens of thousands of years. It has got to add up.

In fact, I think there is a paper here. All I need are two co-authors, one a geologist and one a wildlife biologist. I'll handle style and editing. It will be interdisciplinary, intersectional  . . .  something like that.