Bear Photos

[BearBio]

I was posting some pics of a few of my Bisleys on another forum and came across some of my bear pics. Since a few of you seem to doubt my experience with bears in the field, I know you'll dispute they are mine! However, here's a few to see, with some field notes.

First off, here is a grizzly hunting an elk calf in Yellowstone Park, just North of Yellowstone Lake. He/she came hauling down the hill and started criss-crossing the field. The cow is the calf's mother and she was part of a small herd that was further up the hill. The calf is hidden in the sagebrush at the lower part of the pic. First time I've ever heard a cow bugle! The griz never found the calf and followed (stalked) the herd through the trees. The cow circled around in the other direction to get her calf.



Here's a young griz (about 2 years old or so) in the National Forest just East of Yellowstone in the Sylvan Pass area. About 20 yards or so:



Ran into this old girl while wandering around Denali National Park. She knew we were there but couldn't see us.




Got some more at home that I need to put on photobucket.

TaTa Let's see some of YOURS!

 

[Rumrunner]

Nice pics. Thanks for sharing.

 

[holo07]

I hope you were carrying more than a camera, great pic's

 

[BearBio]

I hope you were carrying more than a camera, great pic's

Bear spray on the closer pics. Denali allowed firearms but we didn't have any (flew to Alaska and it wasn't worth the hassle=just bought spray there). The Yellowstone pics we had a 45 Blackhawk nearby (spray at hand). Next year we'll be fly fishing, so my 454 and spray will be at hand.

 

[WendyZXZ]

Those are great bear pictures!

 

[BearBio]

They usually look like that when they come out of hibernation. This was early to mid- July==Springtime at Denali.

 

[BearBio]

They usually look like that when they come out of hibernation. This was early to mid- July==Springtime at Denali.

Ok, thanks. I thought perhaps a Fall 'Timothy Treadwell' type bear.

Interesting tid-bit: Grizzlies have that big hump for attachment of their large digging muscles. After hibernation, they purge with new grass, then feast on moths that are dazed by the still cool temps (digging them up), then they move on to ground squirrels and roots and then on to winter-kill. If it is a bad year, they will eat a lot of yellow pine seeds in the fall. These contain a lot of phytoestrogen (plant-produced estrogen). This prevents the embryos from attaching and she will abort (Bears mate in summer but the egg doesn't attach until hibernation).