Tag Archives: Grizzly Bears

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.

On the other side of the stands grizzly bears travel up and down the river and often stop to fish.  It is also their approach around the end of the finger into the holding pool. In this case a mother with this years cubs spends some time fishing, teaching and feeding in the natural river.

This picture was taken from the viewing stands on Knight Inlet’s Glendale River.  We are able to use the stands, which are located at the mouth of the man made spawning channel after the 24th of August.  The stand we use is at the end of a finger of land that has the natural river on one side and the holding pool for the spawning area on the other side.  This photo taken between the shoulders of two guests shows a grizzly bear walking along the edge of the holding pool toward the stand. The vehicle we use is up the bank about five meters (fifteen feet) from the bear, which is about ten meters from the stand.

No this bear has not become so attached to the salmon it wants to cuddle the fish rather its front paw was injured in a fight and it is not able to hold the salmon.  This bear got into a fight with a mother grizzly that had a cub close and came out second best.  Its front paw cannot support any weight but it manages to catch and eat salmon and is putting on the necessary bulk to survive hibernation.  Only time will tell if it will survive the winter but so far we have been watching it for over a month and all is well.

“Brown bear claws are long and curved, ranging in color from yellow to brown.  In rare cases grizzlies have been observed with white claws.  These claws are used to dig up roots and bulbs of plants as well as to excavate den sites (Brown 1993, p 74).”  The white claws are often seen on the grizzly bears we view on the wild river we visit on the extra day in the lodge. 

As the tide rises in Knight Inlet’s Glendale River estuary the grizzly bear tour from our lodge is able to move up the river and observe bears in their natural surroundings. Even thought the bears have accepted our presence the key: “Is to leave the bears as you find them”. As long as this “philosophy” is followed the bears ignore our viewing and provide opportunities for many great photos such as this mother and her cubs feeding in the river on a rising tide.