Somebody big was napping here

Walking on a boardwalk on the wild side of the river in Leavenworth, I encountered this very large matted area in the grass – it was about four feet in diameter.  My first thought was that something very large must have been napping in this space, after which I proceed directly into the woods…

and then I came to this sign:

The missing word on that sign couldn’t possibly be bears…

Right?

We’ve seen quite a few bears on this trip, but none while I was wandering around on foot. I was always safely encased in the car.