Tag: travel

Grizzly Bear

Grizzly Cub at Grand Teton National Park

Photo of 1.5 year old grizzly cub on its own.
Abandoned by Its Mother

I haven’t ever gone through Grand Teton on my way to or from Yellowstone, but I was leaning toward doing that on the way home this year when someone in Yellowstone told me of a spot to photograph a great gray owl.  That was all I needed to hear to make up my mind.  I didn’t find the owl, but this grizzly cub made up for it.

It is one of three cubs born to famous #399 a year and a half ago.  399 has become famous because of her habit of living with her cubs close to roads and humans.  Some believe she does this because boars are less likely to frequent such areas and thus the likelihood of a boar killing her cubs is lessened.  The downside to this is that her cubs can pick up the same habit and bears that are comfortable near humans and roads is not a good thing.  This cub is spending a lot of time close to the road at the intersection with Pilgrim Creek.

It’s not normal for a grizzly sow to give her cubs the boot at one year of age, but that’s what 399 does.  NPS says 399 was abandoned by her mom at that age and thus to 399 that’s what a mom does, I guess.  This cub’s chances of survival would seem to be lessened somewhat without the extra year of protection and education mom could provide.

Black Bear

A Black Bear Protects an Elk Carcass, Yellowstone National Park

Photo of cinnamon black bear lying on elk carcass.
“This one’s mine.”

The road over Dunraven Pass opened May 29.  I didn’t know the pass had been cleared until yesterday.  As I began the drive over it from Tower to Canyon I quickly saw a bunch of cars parked.  It turns out the day the pass opened some people found a wolf kill of an elk.  By the time I came along most of the carcass had been consumed and a cinnamon black bear was in possession of it.  One wolf came by and the bear was able to keep possession.  I proceeded over Dunraven Pass to Canyon and didn’t see anything of interest.

 

Spring Cubs at Play

Photo of two black bear spring cubs.
Spring Cubs at Play

In my previous post I overstated my case when I said bears were getting hard to find because they weren’t spending all their time feeding on grass, but were taking advantage of elk calving.  There isn’t an elk calf (or other prey species) around every turn for the bears so they haven’t completely stopped eating grass.  I photographed these cubs yesterday.  They were playing king of the hill while their mother grazed on grass.  I’m 99 per cent sure they’re the same cubs that were in an earlier blog because they are in  the same location.  I still haven’t seen an elk calf.  I also haven’t seen any badgers.  I’ve seen a lot of other critters though.  One thing I’m amazed at is how many mountain bluebirds I’ve seen and photographed.

Coyote

Wet Coyote, Yellowstone National Park

Photo of a wet coyote.
Wet Coyote

The snow that fell yesterday was sticking when it landed on vegetation, but not on the roads or animals.  This coyote was probably hoping it would either get colder or warmer.  It looks soaked.  The temperature ranged between 30 and 35 degrees.  It’s about the same today.  There was about four inches of snow on my car this morning and it was still snowing.  Fortunately, it’s let up, at least for now.

Grizzly Bear

A Grizzly Hunts for Food, Yellowstone National Park

Photo of a grizzly bear.
A Grizzly Feeds Near Soda Butte Creek

This young grizzly is the same individual I photographed yesterday.  It was looking for food by overturning rocks and turning over clumps of dirt.  While what it was finding will keep this bear going, it would really benefit by finding some meat.  It’s eyes don’t look sad anymore.  It’s looking at me.  Hmmm.

It has been raining and snowing for the past few days.  Today it snowed lightly almost all day in the park and caused me some focusing problems.  The snow stuck to vegetation, but melted quickly when it hit dirt and asphalt.  The forecast is for more of the same.

Grizzly Bear

Grizzly Bear, Yellowstone National Park

Photo of a grizzly bear.
Spring Grizzlies Are Hungry Grizzlies.

This is the only grizzly so far that has been close enough to photograph on this trip to Yellowstone.  It’s a young bear and when I look at its eyes it seems sad.

Those aren’t insects flying around the bear.  It’s snow.  We’ve had rain, hail and snow the past couple of days.  That’s not unusual this time of year.

There’s no time to cull photos.  This is the first one I saw that looked OK.

Sandhill Crane

Sandhill Crane near Blacktail Pond, Yellowstone National Park

Photo of a sandhill crane.
A Sandhill Crane Near Blacktail Ponds

When people think of the wildlife in Yellowstone they think of wolves, bears, especially grizzlies, and elk.  But there are lots of other critters.  You can probably think of many others, but you may not put the sandhill crane on your list.  Yet there are quite a few to be seen there.  This crane was with a couple of others near Blacktail Pond.  One other large bird I’m used to seeing here is the trumpeter swan.  However, I haven’t seen any this trip and don’t recall if I saw any in my other recent trips.