Grizzly bears mate in the spring and their babies are born from January to March so it can live in its den for about four months during the coldest weather. The grizzly bear cubs of Knight Inlet first appear on the shore with their mothers in late May. This meas the cubs are three to four months old and will remain with their mothers or two or three years. Although still nursing this cub copies mother and will start on solid food.
Date on photo 9/3/2015 11:05 AM Sorry that today’s and the last three posting “Date on photos” are not in time sequence but it makes for a better flow in blogging. But it was an excellent day grizzly bear watching and I quite counting the number of bears when I reached twenty. This is the back side of the stands that face the natural river and the area from which most of the bears arrive to fish near the platforms.
Date on photo 9/3/2015 10:47 AM. This view is from the end of the platform that faces part of the natural river and the entrance to the pool containing all the salmon. Often bears that are walking up river reach the pool to find that it may contain a large male they do not wish to confront. They by pass the lower pool and walk under the platform to move further up the pool before entering the water again. And for some reason the guests do not mind.
Date on photo 9/3/2015 11:40 AM These grizzly bears are about nine meters (yards) below the front of the platform. If you have any kind of a telephoto lens you will be able to tell the colour of their eyes.
Date on photo 9/3/2015 11:20 AM View one is looking to the right toward the entrance to the spawning channel and the weir which maintains the water level. I count seven grizzlies. But then I know that there is one close to the river bank where the rocks and white water are just below the grizzly standing at the weir. Some of these are “binocular bears” but the ones in tomorrow’s post are not….
This is the viewing platform we use on Knight Inlet’s Glendale River after August 24th. It is a larger platform which has ample room for guests to move around and not be bumping into each other. Lots of room to set up a tripod and stable enough so there is no movement. Also covered so it is dry and also out of the sun on the hot days. The view from the stands will be in the next four posts….
Grizzly bear watching prior to August 25th is also on the Glendale River but it takes place from a flat bottom skiff that allows us to move through the river and its estuary in very shallow water. In this case a mother grizzly and her cub are walking the beach and turning over rocks in search of protein in the form of crabs, clams, barnacles, amphipods and other tiny invertebrates. Note the photo is from eye level which is different that the downward view of viewing stand photographs.
This photo is the extreme of the point I want to make in this post. Grizzly bear watching after August 24th takes place from viewing stands on Knight Inlet’s Glendale River. All photographs will have a downward angle as we are higher than the bears. They are either in the water catching salmon, walking the shore or approaching the viewing stands or in this case directly below the stands.
Photo was taken August 27 and the grizzly bear is in the river waiting for the salmon. A little fatter than the bear in yesterdays post but still a long way from fat enough for hibernation. It is just the start of the salmon run so this mother and cub has two months to add the weight necessary for a successful hibernation. If you compare this photo with the post of August 16 it is another cub on a different rock trying to stay dry.
“Bears are omnivores that have relatively unspecialized digestive systems similar to those of carnivores. The primary difference is that bears have an elongated digestive tract, an adaptation that allows bears more efficient digestion of vegetation than other carnivores (Herrero 1985). Unlike ruminants, bears do not have a cecum and can only poorly digest the structural components of plants (Mealey 1975). To compensate for inefficient digestion of cellulose, bears maximize the quality of vegetal food items ingested, typically foraging for plants in phenological stages of highest nutrient availability and digestibility (Herrero 1985).” From Yellowstone
Just like that our season has come to an end. I would like to thank all of our wonderful guests and staff who made this year a huge success. I am happy to stay that all of our team is planning to return next season. We are actively taking bookings, with dates starting June 1 2025. Hope to see many of you next season.
The wildlife viewing this season was awesome. A couple highlights that come to mind was the shear number of salmon in our local rivers, as well as the abundance of Resident Orca. With salmon returns being so strong this year, we were happy to see bears in excellent condition. By the end of our season most of the bears had packed on a lot of weight and were getting very “picky” about what parts of the salmon they would eat. Hopefully this will translate into more cubs being born this winter. Another positive was the weather conditions. We had enough rain to keep our fire risks low and it made for some excellent wild berries. The bears took full advantage of this, with the berry season extending far past its normal conclusion. This did mean that we had to work hard to find bears during our summer season, (as they were often feeding on the berries deep into the forest), but moving forward it is excellent that they had such an abundant food supply. The Humpbacks also didn’t disappoint, with great numbers and a few new calves returning with their mothers to feed. After a slower year for resident Orca sightings, this season was one of the best that I can remember. In fact as Im writing this the A62 and A23’s are still being spotted in the area by dedicated biologists. Strong numbers of Chinook and Chum salmon are providing them with a steady food source. There are a lot of positive signs and we are hopeful that 2025 will be another great season.
Over the winter and spring we will be doing some repairs and maintenance. We plan on having a new cedar front deck built in time for the 2025 season, as well as new ceilings and paint in parts of the lodge and rooms. Theres always projects on the go.
Felix, Julien, Ryan, Zack and Myself all look forward to welcoming guest in June. See everyone soon.
Angus Reid
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