This adult bear and two cubs were near Louisiana 319 on a hot afternoon recently.

CYPREMORT POINT — Mama bear and two cubs, each barely the size of a small dog, went on an afternoon walk two weeks ago, in and then away from their natural habitat.

The Louisiana black bears provided a picturesque image as they ambled — or playfully strutted, as cubs are wont to do — one that was captured in a photo taken by John Bacon of Breaux Bridge, who was riding in a pickup truck with Steve Miguez of Loreauville.

Miguez, 64-year-old owner of Sea Tran and Miguez Fuel, was on his way to do some chores at his camp at Cypremort Point, which he’s had since the 1980s at Quintana Marina. Miguez drove over the long span over the Intracoastal Waterway and when he got to the foot of the bridge on the Cypremort Point side he saw the family of bears on a road near Louisiana 319.

It was about 1 o’clock in the afternoon, he said. For one thing, he was surprised to see the bruins out in the heat of the day.

“They were just playing. The mama was looking at me as I passed,” he said. 

“I made a U-Turn and came back.”

Miguez, the father of State Rep. Blake Miguez, R-Erath, urged Bacon to take a photo and the bear family obliged at the side of the road.

“What surprised me was … look how skinny they (cubs) are. I thought they’d be chubby,” Miguez said.

Louisiana black bear cubs are born around the month of February, according to the U.S. F&WS and state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

Also, Miguez said, the adult bear was wearing a radio tracking collar, part of a monitoring program, that was clearly visible.

It was the second time he has seen an adult bear with cubs in that area. Over the past few years, he has seen five or six bears there going back and forth, he said.

Both times when he saw an adult bear and cubs, he said they “acted like they own the place” and didn’t move a bit. Otherwise, if he passes a bear with no cubs, he’ll back up and that bear is long gone.

As much bear traffic as he and others see, Miguez said he believes a “Bear Crossing” sign should be placed in the location.

The Louisiana black bear subspecies once ranged throughout Louisiana and parts of Arkansas, eastern Texas and western Mississippi. By 1980, more than 80 percent of the Louisiana black bear’s habitat had been modified or destroyed, and in January 1992 the subspecies was listed as threatened within its historic range by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

It was removed from the list in March 2016. Today they roam mostly in Louisiana and Mississippi.

There are an estimated 500 to 750 Louisiana black bears in the Sportsman’s Paradise.