Tag Archives: grizzly

Male Grizzly

Large Grizzly Bear

In the spring before the salmon arrive the grizzly bear tours from the lodge run up Knight Inlet to Glendale Cove and observe the bears that forage in the river estuary and on the beach. The high protein sedge grass is often one meter (yard) high. Also there is an abundance of skunk cabbage roots, which is a grizzly favourite. At this time of the year we use a large flat bottom skiff that allows us to move in the shallow waters along the shore and further up the river providing great photographic opportunities.

 

 

Spring Grizzly Cub

Grizzly with new cub

Late May the grizzly bear mothers and cubs start to show up on the shore of Knight Inlet. The hibernation ends in April or early May and they work their way down from the higher elevations where the snow is dryer for hibernation. When the cubs see their first boat that stops off shore they run and hide in the logs up the beach but by the third visit they sit close to mom and watch us. After the third visit we become part of the scenery / background and are of little interest. Cubs main interest is food and they gain weight rapidly during their time with the mother — their weight will have ballooned from 4.5 to 45 kg (10 to 99 lb) in the two years spent with the mother.

 

 

Looking Down on Grizzlies

Grizzly bears Below

The viewing stands the Lodge uses after August 24th are in a good location on Knight Inlet’s Glendale River. There is water on three sides full of pink salmon and the grizzlies come to feed. As this photo shows they do pass directly beneath the stands as they move from one fishing spot to another. These two grizzlies do not appear very large because they are two-year-old cubs while one adult would be the size of the two cubs combined.

 

 

Grizzly Siblings Fight

Grizzlies Play Fight

The road mentioned in the 26th post stops directly below the viewing platform and this is the location of the play fighting grizzly bears. They were beside our truck and spent about fifteen minutes enjoying some time in the sun. Once the hunger has been satisfied the younger bears often play fight to improve their skills. As they age grizzlies will fight with other males for the right to mate in a given area and also fight with females that refuse to mate with them.

 

 

Grizzly Bear Claws

Grizzly bear claws

Grizzly bears have long nonretractile claws which are 5 to 10 cm (2 to 4 inches) but they are not good climbers. Their claws are used for digging, picking fruits, and catching prey. In this case the prey would be the many pink salmon in the entrance to the spawning channel overlooked by the lodge’s viewing platform.

 

 

Curious Grizzly Bear?

Grizzly is curious visitor

The road being blocked by this grizzly is the one we used to get to the Lodge’s viewing platform that we use after August 24th. The road is on a finger of land between the natural river and the entrance to a man-made spawning channel. This grizzly had just come up from the river and was crossing to the channel when it spotted a mother with two cubs fishing so this is more of an ALERT look than one of curiosity. This bear proceeded down the road well past the mother before going down the bank to fish and we were only a few minutes late getting to the viewing stands. The guests did not seem to mind the delay.

 

 

First Year Grizzly Cub

Grizzly bear Cub

This photo was taken in early June in the Glendale River estuary of Knight Inlet. By the size of this cub it was likely born in late February making it a little over four months old. The advantage of the early season tours from our Lodge is the cubs are small about 10 kg (22 lbs.) when they first appear on the beach in late May but can easily triple that weight by July. No this cub was not alone it’s mother was about 5 meters (yards) away and it was very aware of our boat which changes after a month and they ignore us knowing there is no danger from the water.

 

 

Classic Grizzly Bear Pose

Griz Eating

Not quite as good as the famous photo that you see in every advertisement of lodges in Alaska with the grizzly catching the salmon in mid-air as it leaps up the falls. But that one is a once in a lifetime photo whereas the chance of getting a photo like this one at our lodge has a much higher probability. The number of grizzlies (45 plus) that are concentrated in the viewing area of Knight Inlet’s Glendale River and the volume of salmon coming to spawn dramatically increases the opportunities of photos of grizzlies catching salmon.

 

 

What Kind of Bear? 3 of 3

Large Black Bear

Also from the National Wildlife Federation website: “Black bears have longer and less rounded ears and a more straight profile from forehead to nose. Black bears have relatively short claws, which enable them to climb trees. Not all black bears are black—their fur can range in color from pure white to a cinnamon color to very dark brown or black.” So checking the photo of the first post for ears, claws and hump it is a brown black. The bear has only been seen once but we do keep looking.

 

 

What Kind of Bear? 2 of 3

boss grizzly

The National Wildlife Federation website states:  “Grizzly bears are large and range in color from very light tan (almost white) to dark brown. They have a dished face, short, rounded ears and a large shoulder hump The hump is where a mass of muscles attach to the bear’s backbone and give the bear additional strength for digging. They have very long claws on their front feet that also give them extra ability to dig after food and to dig their dens.” And is a good description of the bear in this photo but does it match yesterdays post.