Great Smoky Mountains National Park

As I said in other post, I love wildlife and this is another park that I would love to visit! Look at these two first postcards, how cannot someone love all this green?

Roaring Fork at Great Smoky Mountains National Park

The Great Smoky Mountains are a mountain range rising along the Tennessee–North Carolina border in the southeastern United States. They are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains, and form part of the Blue Ridge Physiographic Province. The range is sometimes called the Smoky Mountains and the name is commonly shortened to the Smokies. The Great Smokies are best known as the home of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which protects most of the range. The park was established in 1934, and, with over 9 million visits per year, it is the most-visited national park in the United States. - in: wikipedia

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

These two cards were sent by Julie, who is also the author of the photographs

The name "Smoky" comes from the natural fog that often hangs over the range and presents as large smoke plumes from a distance. This fog is caused by the vegetation exhaling volatile organic compounds, chemicals that have a high vapor pressure and easily form vapors at normal temperature and pressure. - in: wikipedia

Fauna in the Great Smoky Mountains

The Great Smoky Mountains are home to 66 species of mammals, over 240 species of birds, 43 species of amphibians, 60 species of fish, and 40 species of reptiles. The range has the densest black bear population east of the Mississippi River. The black bear has come to symbolize wildlife in the Smokies.

Other mammals in the Great Smokies include the white-tailed deer, the population of which drastically expanded with the creation of the national park. The bobcat is the range's only remaining wild cat species, although sightings of mountain lions— which once thrived in the area— are still occasionally reported. The coyote is not believed to be native to the range, but has moved into the area in recent years and is treated as a native species. Two species of fox— the red fox and the gray fox— are found in the Smokies (...) The National Park Service has successfully reintroduced river otters and elk into the Great Smokies. - in: wikipedia

Black Bears in the Great Smoky Mountains

The American black bear (Ursus americanus) is a medium-sized bear native to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most widely distributed bear species. Black bears are omnivores with their diets varying greatly depending on season and location. They typically live in largely forested areas, but do leave forests in search of food. - in: wikipedia

Black Bear in the Great Smoky Mountais

I love this postcard! But I think I wouldn't like to be in the photographer's place! :D

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is one of the largest protected areas in the eastern United States where black bears can live in wild, natural surroundings.

Bears inhabit all elevations of the park. Though populations are variable, biologists estimate that roughly 1,500 bears live in the park. - in: http://www.nps.gov/grsm/learn/nature/black-bears.htm