Tag Archives: grizzly
Grizzly family concern
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
Two 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.
Grizzly bear goes for salmon eggs
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.
Grizzly Play Fight
Mother grizzly and cub or siblings they still spend time enjoying each other’s company. This is a common scene on one of the lodge’s grizzly tours to the Glendale River. Once the appetite is satisfied the bears take time out to socialize. It is good that it is playing because the size of the claws indicates that some damage could occur if it became serious. In this case I would go for siblings, if your notice the size of the paw in the lower left corner of the picture is similar in size to the one in the upper right.
Copy and learn
This grizzly bear cub, on BC’s Glendale River on Knight Inlet, even has its mother’s colouring. Cubs tend to learn by seeing and doing. In this case the cub has taken to a rock because it is a little warmer and it lacks the layer of body fat of the mother. Also the force of the water might make it hard for it to remain in one place. Both are looking down river and waiting for another school of pink salmon to arrive in the entrance of the spawning channel. Waiting for lunch.
Grizzly yawning
This grizzly bear on the Glendale River has it’s mouth stretched wide open in mid- morning yawn. Yawning can be a sign of stress for a bear, or it can be, simply, yawning. In this case a yawn is a yawn as this bear had been resting on the side of the road near the viewing stands we occupied when it got up, yawned, and moved to the river to resume fishing for pink salmon.
Why you want a guided tour
This was a late August trip to the Glendale River on Knight Inlet. The tide was rising so we were up the river in the lodge’s eighteen-foot flat-bottomed skiff. Using the skiff permits us to travel up the shallow river and gain closer access to the grizzly bears feeding on the sedge grass in the delta or estuary. On this day a “tourist boat” was anchored is the river mouth and they were up rive in their zodiack and much too close to the grizzly wanting to cross the river. We tried to get the zodiack to move back without much luck. Fortunately the bears in the area accept the small boats as a fact of life and tend to ignore them but I prefer to give them a little more room. The etiquette of grizzly bear watching is not to get so close that you prevent them from going where they want and behaving in a natural manner.
Grizzly cub like mother
Grizzly bears in the spring and early summer spend much of their time on the beach in search of food. Turning over rocks in the inter-tidal zone provides “food” high in protein. Food made up of crab, clams, muscles, barnacles, amphipods and other tiny invertebrates. In this photo mother is eating the muscles growing on the log and possibly some of the seaweed while the cub is trying very hard to turn over a good sized rock. This is a July photo and the mother is still growing new fur that was rubbed off during hibernation.
Unhappy grizzly cub
This photo taken in late September shows a seven month old grizzly cub waiting for mother to provide lunch. It would be lunch as our time on the viewing stand on the Glendale River is between ten and noon. Mother cannot be to far away because at this age the cubs do not leave their mother side for very long. Mother will be close by fishing for the pink salmon that have come into the river to spawn. There are several rocks in this part of the river that are favourite perches for the hungry cubs.
