Tag Archives: Grizzly Bears
Grizzly coming to investigate
Grizzly bear viewing from the lodge on Minstrel Island requires run up Knight Inlet to the Glendale River estuary. Once we arrive we transfer to sixteen-foot flat bottom skiff which allows us to travel in very shallow water. Being able to move in shallow water means that your guide can leave the skiff and manoeuvre the boat by walking along side. This permits us to move up the river at a low tide where as using a motor we would need to wait longer and the bears would have left the estuary. As I recall this picture is an example were a grizzly came to investigate and we slowly backed down river until curiosity was satisfied. No we were not in danger as any loud noise such as banging an oar on the metal boat and the bear would have left immediately. The bears we view have come to accept our presence and do not show aggression only curiosity.
Spring Grizzly Bears Mating
Grizzly bear’s mating time is late May through June in the Glendale River area of Knight Inlet. It is also the same time that the mother grizzlies are bringing their new cubs to the estuary area for the first time. This is potential a dangerous mix as males have been known to kill cubs as it is believed that the females will come into season. The courtship we watched unfold seemed to involve an uninterested female who was trying to avoid the male. The male was following her along the beach until she took to the water and eventually swam past the bow of our boat. The male was undeterred and wadded along the shore to keep pace with the female. This continued up the delta grassland of the estuary until they disappeared in to the surrounding forest.
The Four Austrians 7 of 11
Grizzly bear fishing techniques vary but from the number of salmon around the bear in the first photo not too much skill is required on this day. One fish under the belly another in the water and a third under the raised paw this makes it easy for this sub-adult grizzly. The second bear in deeper water seems to have its eye on the fish but isn’t sure how to catch the salmon. Because of the number of salmon the bears are very tolerant of one another it is common to see several mothers with cubs as well and juvenile bears feeding in the viewing area at the same time. After the two hour viewing time we are permitted on the stands it is back to the estuary for a picnic lunch possible a run up the river in the skiff and another chance for more wildlife on the return to the lodge.
The Four Austrians 6 of 11
Once the grizzly bear tour arrives in the Glendale River estuary we to transfer to shore and drive a van for fifteen minutes up an old logging road to the two viewing stands on a man-made spawning channel. The stand we normally use has view of the natural river on one side (the view shown) and the entrance to the spawning channel on the other. The stands are large enough to move about for good photos and steady enough to use tripods while others move around. The bears move up and down the river to feed on the pink salmon waiting to enter the spawning area or already in the spawning beds. The pink salmon show are often so abundant that you can not see the river bottom but this still makes it difficult for some bears to be successful at fishing.
Cubs waiting to for salmon
The mother grizzly bears on the Glendale River bring their cubs with them when they come to fish. These first year cubs born in January or February are waiting patiently for a meal to be provided. One is lucky in that it has a dry rock to sit on while the other looks less sure balanced on a wet and likely slippery rock. It is not uncommon to have an age mixture in the grizzly bears we view from the stands in the fall. A mixture from first year cubs with mothers, sub-adult bears as well as fulls adults. The abundance of salmon to eat and the short time to fatten for the winter does not allow time for much fighting.
Grizzly Bear Claws
The “North American Bear Center” website says “Brown bear (grizzly bear) claws are long and curved, ranging in color from yellow to brown. In rare cases grizzlies have been observed with white claws.” This seems rather mundane and clinical until you actually look carefully at this picture. Click on the picture to enlarge it and you will notice the size of the claws. A quote from the “Fish BC” website about the pink salmon this grizzly is holding is interesting. “Easily identified by the large browny spots on their tails, pink sport aquamarine dorsal surfaces, the tiniest bright silver scales in the ocean and an over-abundance of disease-preventing slime. Accordingly, commercial fishers call them “slimies”. And they are slimy indeed. The angler is cautioned to clean up the boat after each salmon or risk ending up in the water with the rest of them.” Slime or no slime this grizzly holds the salmon in one paw while she shares with her cub. Notice that the claw raps around the fish from both sides like a hand. If you stay in the lodge the extra day and travel to the wild river many of the grizzlies in that area have the white claws.
Grizzly Bear coming to visit
When you can see the water drops on a grizzly’s coat you know that it is coming close. The viewing area the lodge has access to on Knight Inlet’s Glendale River has two stands on either end of a narrow finger of land that separates the entrance to the man-made spawning channel and the main river. This finger of land provides a one way road to drive between stands which allows the van to park next to the stand so it is only a few feet until you are safe in the stand. However it also provides a good path for the grizzlies to use as this picture from Lindy Taylor shows. Bears will walk in front of and beneath the stands which provides great opportunities for pictures.
Grizzly Bear Eating the Catch
This grizzly bear seems to be devouring the salmon headfirst. The time of the year determines what part of the salmon the bears will eat. The photo by Lindy Taylor was the start of September when the pink salmon first appear in great number so the whole fish is consumed. As the season progresses they eat on the really fatty parts, such as the brain and the ovaries packed with eggs and the skin – giving them maximum calories per bite. This selective eating by the successful grizzlies provide food for bears that are less able to catch live salmon. The discards drift down stream and become meals for other bears and the ever present bald eagles. One of the viewing stand is by a deeper water pool and some bears just sit and scavenge all day this sure saves energy and that helps puts on the fat layer.
All fishers are not created equal
