Tag Archives: grizzly

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.

 

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.

Guest Comments about trip to lodge

Click to enlarge
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 Bear sitting to eat

Click to enlarge

Once the grizzly bears we view on Knight Inlet’s Glendale River have caught their salmon they eat but where is the question?  This on has decided that sitting in shallow water and using four feet is a good idea others prefer to find a rock to use as a table.  Some retreat to the shore for fear of the salmon escaping and a few move into the surrounding bush.  When the bears are done with the carcasses they break down and feed the plant life of the forest. The trees in the forest close to the rivers have been found to carry salmon DNA.  This only makes sense the trees are going to use whatever is available to grow and what could be better than healthy salmon carcasses?  From this scientists have been able to take core samples from these trees to determine what years have had good salmon runs thereby creating a record for rivers and determining the historic levels of salmon is various coastal rivers of BC.

Grizzly mother and cubs (Click photo to enlarge)

Yes that is one of the viewing stands in the background. This mother grizzly bear and her two year old cubs are more interested is what is behind the bush in the water than the “grizzly bear watching tourists’ in the stands. They can’t quite see through, over or around the bushes but they know something is there. The something is the salmon which they can smell but more likely other bears in the river which they can also smell. Mother grizzly bears with cubs are always cautious.

 

Grizzly Bears at play?

After August 25 our grizzly bear watching tours take place from the viewing stands. The stands are located on the Glendale River, which empties into British Columbia’s Knight Inlet. The salmon have arrived and are in the river and there is lots of wildlife beside the bears. Because of the abundance to salmon for food the grizzly bears often take a “time out” to play. These photos could have the captions: “Leave me alone” and a good right hook “Told you I used to box”.  NOTE this is not one picture just posts that way!!

 

Grizzly Bear watching and waiting

“Maybe if I just lie here the fish will swim closer and LUNCH?” Could have been a hot day in late August and a good way to cool down. Do not see many fish in the water near this grizzly bear so the “cool down” is a good option. Bear watching is always interesting as their behaviour varies from day to day.

 

Grizzly Bear Watching

“Friends and family share don’t they mum?” might be a good caption for this photo. The young grizzly are often not the best at catching fish and rely on their mothers. Note the other grizzly bear eating in the background, the abundance of food in our viewing area means there are not many fights as they takes away from the eating time.

 

Grizzly Bear and cub

In the spring the grizzly bear cubs we are watching in Knight Inlet are like my grandsons, always looking for adventure. They do not stray very far from their mother who is always alert for danger. Danger in the form of male grizzly not the camera caring guests from our lodge who are watching the bears.