Grizzly Bear and Wildlife Tour Blog

The back of the viewing stands has the natural river, which is much shallower than the holding pool and also a travel route to the pool. This grizzly bear spent more than half an hour working the river, catching a few salmon before it moved further up the river. If my memory serves me well we saw more than a dozen different grizzly bears on the trip and had good bear viewing all morning. Grizzly Bear Lodge is allotted two hours on the viewing stands between 10:00 and noon each day.

Some grizzly bears are more active and splash around trying to catch salmon, however in the deep water this is often a waste of time. Bears need to pin the salmon against the bottom and them grab them with their mouth and in deep water this becomes a problem making their success rate very low. It is hard to build up the necessary layer of fat if you ate using more calories catching salmon than eating salmon.

The key to a successful fisher is to keep trying.  The first photo shows a close call for the salmon but to be sure bears do not stop and this fish did not escape. The time to fatten on the fish in the river around our viewing stands is limited from late August to late October so persistence is the key to a good hibernation.

The area behind the viewing stand that we use on the Glendale River is a traveling route for grizzly bears.  It is easier to walk the riverbed and possibly pick up the occasional salmon than through the thicker bush.  As can be seen by the vegetation on this bear’s coat it is using the river as a road rather than a fishing area. Also the size of this grizzlies belly it is a pretty good indication that it can catch salmon when it is hungry.