Tag Archives: Grizzly Bears

Grizzly Bear Claws

Grizzly bear claws

A great photo by Glen, one of the guides, of a large male’s grizzly on the Glendale River. In spite of the black colouring it is a grizzly if you have looked at other photos post in the blog or the many on the website you will see that the bears in our grizzly bear viewing area range from one that is so blonde (cream) it is almost white to every shade of brown to almost black. The coats can be a relatively uniform colour or have markings of various shades of colours. In this case the claws are a give away they are much longer that a black bear claws. Click photo then click again to enlarge.

 

Defending fishing rights

Back off

A great action photo of one grizzly asserting its fishing rights. Almost looks like a lecture but I think it has gone a little beyond a discussion. The disagreements on the Glendale River, which is Grizzly Bear Lodge’s viewing area, tend to be settled with a few roars and mock charges and then all is well and life continues.  The compatibility of the bears is due to the common reason for being on the river; that is food in the form of salmon to provide the fat to survive the winter.  In the end survival always wins.

Grizzly and cubs

Grizzlies Visiting

A well-fed family.  This photo of a mother grizzly bear and two-year-old cubs was taken in October near the end of the salmon run in Knight Inlets’ Glendale River. These grizzly have had all season to put on their winter layer of fat to make sure they would be able to survive hibernation. The spring tours from the lodge would find these bears on the beach turning over rocks for protein as well as eating sedge grass.  In the summer they still appear on the beach at low tides but substitute berries for the sedge grass. And of course in by late August they are on the river enjoying the abundance of pink salmon returning to spawn in the Glendale River. The tour schedule from Grizzly Bear Lodge follows the bears as they change their feeding habits viewing first from the water in the estuary to the viewing stands at the spawning channel.

 

Hungry Grizzly Bear

eating a salmon
Click to enlarge then click again

This is a photo from early October.  The salmon the bear has are not the silver of fresh august salmon more than likely they have been picked off the bottom of one of the deeper pools at the entrance to the salmon spawning area. In this case the bear has two, the one being eaten and a stand by in its arms. No need to waste time when the main goal is to put on that last few pounds of fat before all the salmon are flushed out of the river by the fall rains and hibernation is approaching.

 

Grizzly always checking over shoulder

Company coming

The Glendale River grizzly bear viewing area contains close to fifty grizzly bears but also allot of spawning salmon so the fights for fishing territory are rare and limited to a few growls.  This does not mean that the juvenile bears are not always on the look out for larger males or even mother grizzlies with cubs. These sub-adults are the “in-betweeners” and frequently pushed out of the salmon-spawning channel until other bears have had their meals.

Grizzly bear mother checking on cub

Grizzly cub

Just realized that the photo in this post ties back to the post on July 10 with the mother and cub each sitting on their own rock. This photo could be indicate the cub was complaining and mother came to check or to console because no salmon have arrive for lunch.

Grizzly family concern

grizzlies kissing
Click to enlarge then click again

From yesterdays post a concern between mother and offspring.  Family ties are strong while mother and cub are together for their first two years. It is not hard to see the family genetic in play with the colouration of these two blond-headed bears.  The size difference between mother and cub mean that this will be the last year for this cub to spend with mother. It will soon be on it’s own and it will be necessary to fight for a fishing spot on the river.

Grizzly bear family in acton

 

Grizzly Bear FamilyTwo mothers each with two-year-old cubs try to determine fishing rights on the Glendale River. These confrontations do not lead to serious fighting as there are far to many salmon to risk injury. Unlike grizzlies in the northern parts of BC and Alaska our area has an abundance of salmon compares to the number of grizzlies. The grizzly population is estimated to be close to fifty bears in the Glendale viewing area.  These bears to not exhibit the scars of old injuries as the northern bear’s bare.  A little roaring and few false charges and the bears seem to be satisfied and go back to fishing. But it is still exciting and great for pictures.

Too many salmon

Too many fish to catch

This is the favourite time of the year for the grizzly bears as well as for our guests. For the grizzly because their food source is a guarantee and the biggest problem is trying to catch only the females with their fat rich eggs. For the guests because of the abundance of bears on the Glendale River’s spawning channel.  After August 24th the lodge is permitted to travel up the river, by van, to the man made spawning channel and watch the bears from one of the two viewing stands. For the lodge and bears it becomes a “no brainer”; bears have unlimited salmon to catch and the lodges guests can fill their memory cards with photos.

Grizzly bear goes for salmon eggs

Grizzly selective feeding

Grizzly bears can be selective in the parts of the salmon they choose to eat. It all depends on what time it is in the salmon run and who close to hibernation. When the salmon first arrive the bears have been maintaining their weight eating sedge grass and berries so early on grizzlies will eat the entire fish except for the intestines. As time progresses and the bears are less ravenous these less hungry bears consume only the eggs, brains and skin of the salmon, which are the fattiest parts. Near the end of the salmon run if the bear has not attained enough fat content it will return to eating the whole salmon.  Also true at certain times of the season is it is common to watch grizzly bears reject the male salmon they catch for the egg rich females. In this picture one can see part of the egg sack exposed after the fat rich belly has been removed.