Tag Archives: Bears

Grizzly bear “Back to Fishing”

grizzly watching river for salmon
Click to enlarge then click again

The fall grizzly bear tours from Grizzly Bear Lodge spent there day on the Glendale River located on Knight Inlet about 40 km (26 m) from the lodge. The salmon have arrived in the river and the grizzlies are hungry. And if one was to ascribing human emotions or motives to this bear it would be “determination”. It came down the bank focused of the water ignoring other bears in the area and began to fish catching a salmon and walking back up the bank to eat and then repeated the process. It did this for about an hour and then walked away down the road.

 

 

Hungry Grizzly Bear

hungry grizzly eating
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The reason for watching grizzly bears on the rivers of British Columbia’s coast is to obtain photos and more important memories of the grizzlies catching and eating salmon. This photo of a bear eating the “whole” salmon shows a hungry bear. At the start of the salmon arriving in the rivers the grizzlies have been eating sedge grass, root, bulbs, berries and turning over rocks on the beach for three or four months. This food source keeps them alive and adds a little fat but what the coast bears want is salmon and when they first arrive they eat the whole salmon. At the end of the salmon run and just before denning (hibernation) if the bears do not have a sufficient fat layer they again will eat the whole fish. In between these two times grizzlies are more selective catching only the females for their eggs or just eating the skin and its fatty layer or the brain.

 

Mate Grizzly Bears (5 of 5)

mate5

But on this day the male grizzly was not far behind. We left these bears and had our picnic lunch. Came back about an hour later and he has followed her into the estuary and was still giving her his undivided attention.

Mate Grizzly Bears (4 of 5)

mate male grizzly

Decision made she headed up the beach past the bow of the boat into the back of the Glendale River estuary. The river mouth is a large flat sedge grass covered area and easier to travel on than the rocky beach. We have viewed other female grizzlies take this approach when wanting to escape form an unwanted suitor…..more tomorrow.

Mate Grizzly Bears (3 of 5)

matint 4

It was a hot day so she was enjoying the swim spending five minutes or more moving up and down the beach. She was not sure of the best way to escape the bear but seemed to enjoy the cooling water….more tomorrow.

Mate Grizzly Bears (2 of 5)

mating grizzlies

This female grizzly eventually retreated to the water to escape some unwanted attention. It could be the health of the male’s grizzly or she may have already bred with another bear either reason she wanted to be as far away from this male as possible…..more tomorrow.

Warm as a bathtub?

bathtub

One of the viewing platforms used on the fall Grizzly Bear Canada tours is opposite the weir that acts as an entrance to the spawning channel. We normally use the finger stand as it has more of the natural river and does not show the weir in the background but occasionally we stop and check out the weir. On this day there was a grizzly just relaxing, not a care in the world. “Little more privacy please, no flashes.”

Friends? (2 of 2)

deer-griz2

At one point in time they were not much more than ten meters (yards) apart. The beach seemed to have pretty good footing for the deer so they were not worried about a sudden lunge from the bear. I am sure the grizzly had determined that the chance of catching one of the deer was not worth the waste of energy required.

Friends? (1 of 2)

deer-griz

Most of the grizzly watching tours from the lodge arrive at the River estuary on Knight Inlet and view the coast black tail deer. The sedge grass is high in protein and provides an excellent food for both deer and grizzly bears. It is the main food sources for grizzlies along with the protein from turning of rocks. The three male deer on the beach with a young grizzly seem to be keeping their distance for a quick get-away.

Grizzly Bear Triplets

grizbeachcubsaa

Note that there are three cubs: to the left of the rock, on the rock and to the right (partially hidden by the rock). We watched this family for about an hour and I was not able to get a clear photo of the family together. My guest got good photos but then they were not maneuvering the boat and taking pictures. That’s my excuse. Grizzly cubs, twins and triplets, are not uncommon in the area of Knight Inlet. It is a sign that the females are healthy and able to handle multiple births. The cubs are born in the winter den and if the female is not in good health (enough fat to feed her and her expected babies) the eggs are absorbed and no cubs are produced. Many of these multiple births survive their first year as they are seen the following year still with their mothers.