Tag Archives: Grizzly Bears

As mentioned in an earlier posting grizzly bears are very playful—cubs treat their moms like a jungle gym. These twins did not want to leave their mother alone and this causes a problem. She had caught enough salmon and the cubs were content and wanted to play however she needs to continue fishing, as she requires many more salmon to fatten for hibernation. In this area with the large number of bears mothers cannot sent the cubs off on their own to rest or play they need to be constantly is her “protection area” for safety. So it becomes a fine balance between play for the cubs and food for mom.

This photo is of a large male grizzly bear sitting patiently waiting for a salmon to drift by to become lunch. The pool by the viewing stand is just below the salmon spawning channel and also the area that the dead salmon float too before entering the main river.  It is a good place to sit and save energy as the salmon come to the bears and all that is required is a quick grab for a meal.  The other side of the stands is the main river and a more active area of fishing.

This mother grizzly bear with second year cubs was located part way up the Glendale River estuary.  The viewing of grizzly bears in the spring and early summer occurs along the shore of Knight Inlet and frequently in a river estuary.  It is about an hour and fifteen minute boat ride from the lodge to a float where we transfer to a 3.5 meter (sixteen foot) flat bottom skiff which provided stable viewing for the bears along the shore. As the tide rises and because the skiff has a very shallow draft we are able to proceed up the river and follow the bears into the taller sedge grass.

Grizzly bear cubs usually stay with their mothers until they emerge from the den in their third spring. By then they should have learned skills essential for survival on their own. This is still, it is a dangerous time for young, inexperienced bears without the protection of their mom and siblings will often stay together for a while, some even denning together the first post-mom winter. Grizzly bears are very playful—cubs treat their moms like a jungle gym. They also play endlessly with each other and even older siblings will still play together as this photo shows. It is common to view bears playing and if the photos were taken out of context one would think they were actually fighting.

This grizzly bear was in the pool, which is the entrance to the spawning channel.  The water is too deep to allow the bears to pin the salmon on the bottom and then grab them with their mouth so the fishing technique is a little different. The salmon caught in this area are ones that have been injured or killed by the bears further up the channel and have drifted into deeper water and are being lifted off the bottom by the lazier bears. Less energy is used in this fishing and the salmon taste the same however on this day the water was a little “muddy” from the previous day’s rain so it was fishing by “Braille”.

This summer there were some warm days on Knight Inlet’s Glendale River. This photo was taken on the first of September from the viewing stands.  After August 24th Grizzly Bear Lodge’s grizzly watching tours are permitted to use the viewing stands on the Glendale River, this is an hour and fifteen-minute boat ride from the lodge. This grizzly bear was on the natural riverside of the stands just enjoying the cooler river water.  It spent about ten minutes just sitting and letting the cool water flow past before it resumed fishing for the “pink” salmon.