Tag Archives: Bears

The grizzlies in our grizzly bear viewing area tend to avoid eye contact as it is seen as a challenge. In this case the eye contact on the part of the bear is a challenge in that we were to close. We were in the skiff on the river and this grizzly appeared suddenly out of the bush onto the grassy estuary and started walking toward the boat. It took a few minutes for us to drift down the river past the bear as were unable to go up river because of the low tide. The bear paused as we went by and we made sure not to stare directly at the bear.

This is the case when a three-year-old grizzly bear cub is being told that it is time to be on your own and not to keep following mother. Cubs generally stay with their mother for two years, although they will stay for three or four if the sow does not become pregnant in the fall of their second year. Pregnancy triggers a reaction in the sow through which she drives the cubs off and hibernates on her own in preparation for giving birth to new cubs the following spring.

A beautiful mid-September day at the viewing stands made more beautiful by the sight of a large grizzly bear walking the causeway. After August 24th most grizzly bear watching from the lodge takes place on the Glendale River. This river is an hour and quarter boat ride and a fifteen-minute van ride from the lodge on Minstrel Island. There are two viewing platforms on a finger of land (causeway) that separate the natural river from the in-take to the man made spawning channel. The last kilometer (mile) to the viewing stands passes along the edge of the spawning channel and is a common walkway for the grizzlies. Why walk through the thick bush when it is easier to walk a road. This also applies between the viewing stands why walk in the water and disturb the salmon and other bears when the road is dry and bears are not protesting their fishing rights.

Our first grizzly bear tours in late May and early June grizzlies are often viewed along the shore before we arrive at Glendale River estuary the normal viewing area. The cubs that are born in the den in January or February are too young to be taken to the estuary where there may be mature male grizzlies. These small bays are referred to as nurseries and it gives the cubs time to grow on mother’s milk, which is more than 30% fat. They also become accustomed to the presence of boats and learn to ignore us from their mothers.