Tag Archives: Grizzly Bears

Grizzly Bear Siblings Salmon Fishing

Grizzly siblings fishing

Alone and vulnerable sibling grizzly bears of the Knight Inlet area often stay together until they are three or four years old often fishing, eating and sleeping side-by-side, and even denning together. The average breeding age for female grizzlies is 4.5 years. Males reach sexual maturity at roughly the same age as the females.  Sub-adult females tend to establish home ranges within or overlapping their mother’s home range. Sub-adult males are usually discouraged from staying in the same area by the larger males and must travel large distances to establish a home range. And even though these sub-adult males are capable of breeding at three or four years of age, they rarely have the opportunity to do so because of these older, bigger males.

Grizzly Bear Identification Knight Inlet

Grizzly

Another day another grizzly bear close to the viewing stands.  No I am not trying to pass yesterdays post off as a different bear this one has a leaf on it’s back.  Actually if you look at the shoulder you will notice this bear does not have the light patches on the fur on it’s neck or behind the shoulder.  Coat colours and a variety of colour patches on their body identify the bears in our viewing area.  Unlike bears in other areas in BC or Alaska our bears are nearly scar free.  There is sufficient food that they do not fight enough to hurt or leave scars rather they just get aggressive enough to move bears to another part of the river.

 

Grizzly Bear Under Viewing Stand

Grizzly Under Viewing Stand

Large Grizzly A day trip from the lodge means we travel up Knight Inlet to the Glendale River. In the fall the viewing time in the stands for Grizzly Bear Lodge is from 10:00 am to 12:00 am.  The stands being a 20-minute van ride up a logging road, which parallels the river.  The grizzly bears have accepted our presence and tend to ignore the stands and will pass close and even under the stands.  The key is no flashes on cameras, no perfumes or other scents on the watchers, definitely no food, talking in quite voices and no sudden moves.  Although the bears ignore if we overstep the guidelines they will turn in our direction and stare to let us know “they know”.

Grizzly Bear close to viewing stands

Grizzly Close-Up

The metal cage on the right side of the photo is the entrance to one of the viewing stands located on Knight Inlet’s Glendale River.  We are in the stands from August 25 to mid-October and that is a “safe” place to be when the grizzly bears are coming that close.  The bears have adjusted to our presence and will pass close to and underneath the stands.  The river, which contains the salmon the bears are catching, is down the height of the viewing stands  (3 meters or 9 feet) and out another ten to fifteen meters.  A good telephoto lens is nice but not a necessity.  

Knight Inlet and Spring Grizzly Bears

Grizzly Mother and Cubs

Knight Inlet’s Glendale River estuary is our normal viewing area for grizzly bears in the spring.  The salmon have not arrived so one of the main source of food in the protein rich sedge grass which grows at the river mouth.  Mother grizzly bears and cubs, in this case by their size they are last years cubs, come to the area for the sedge grass.  At lower tides when the beach is exposed they turn over rocks for the high protein food of crabs, clams, barnacles, amphipods and other tiny invertebrates.   These grizzlies remain in the area until the salmon arrive in August and then move up the river and we follow them to the viewing stands on the river.

Knight Inlet Black Bear Watching

Black Bear Back

This is not an uncommon pose to a black bear or even for a grizzly bear. Bears are on the beach in the spring because plant food is relatively scarce during spring and bears will continue to loose weight until well into June. Plant foods make up the majority of a bear’s diet (sometimes, as much as 90%). The black bears are kept from the salmon rivers by the grizzly bears so the beaches remain one of their main sources of protein all year. I believe
this “back to us pose” is because the beach slopes down to the water line and it is easier to roll rocks downhill.

Signs of Grizzly Bear success

Grizzly Bear Guard

This grizzly bear is guarding a good fishing location.  Look close at the large rock and notice the salmon blood. It is always nice to have a table close when you are catching food and need to eat it on site. Being able to place the salmon on the rock and eat the best parts always speed up the process and then back to fishing.  The best parts depend on the individual grizzly bear and time in the fishing season.  The best could be the head for mineral content, eggs and belly high in protein, or the skin with it’s layer of fat.  Many bears devour the whole salmon early in the fishing season and then become more selective once they have reached a certain size, which means a successful hibernation.

Guest Comments about trip to lodge

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Click to enlarge

Grizzly Bear eating salmon

 

 

 

“Our holiday was in Mid September. We have shared stories of our stay ever since and will continue to do so, as our host John Reid with his wife & team gave us the benefit of truly unforgettable experiences. From the greeting off the seaplane with the three other couples on our flight, a massive bowl of sea food with all guests, a short walking tour to a nearby building (to listen to its history), a glorious meal, comfortable & relaxing accommodation, motorboat trip to find ourselves right where the killerwhales passed by (playing around our boat…Glenn was a gem as his love of the marine life was evident), beautiful lunch, another superb meal and on the third day a motorboat / minibus trip to our best ever wildlife experience….grizzlies and cubs feeding on wild salmon…our photos need no commentary, to a leisurely afternoon where I won a tee shirt (golf shot from front lawn to nearest a selected object) and John saw as off back on the seaplane.”

Grizzly Eating Salmon – Knight Inlet


Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge

The reason Grizzly Bear Lodge is successful viewing bears on Knight Inlet’s Glendale River is the presence of salmon in the man-made spawning channel.  The salmon arrive in the area mid-August and we are permitted to travel to the viewing stands from August 25 to mid-October.  Most salmon caught by the grizzly bears are eaten on site moving off the river to eat would mean loss of a prime fishing position.  There is a change in the bears as we watch from the viewing stands as it is possible to eat only so many salmon at one time and we are in the stands for two hours.  The time limit is determined by government regulations. 

Grizzly Bears at play?

Our grizzly bear viewing area in British Columbia’s Knight Inlet is home to more than fifty bears. The abundance of salmon in our tours’ area reduces the need for bears to fight for the best fishing place. In fact the grizzly bears, big or small, seem to coexist with out much conflict. So it is hard to tell if this is serious or just playing. I was not present when the photo was taken.