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15 August ~ 2007

I have already had a nature program since I got back, and of course I added a few stories about what I came across up there in Montana and Northern Wyoming.

I knew bears were in that valley I backpacked to, even though I had not come across one. The fresh claw marks on the Grizzly mark tree reminded me how careful I needed to be with my food:

(to see a 700 pixel wide image of the above collage, click here; to see a 1400 wide pixel image of the above picture, click here.)

When we went through Yellowstone on the way home, I took Ben and Maggie out of their carriers in the back of the truck and put them in a cab. A few years ago I got trapped in a Buffalo jam, and Ben and Maggie were upsetting the mother Bison with their barking from the pickup bed. I was worried that my truck was going to be rammed.

Maggie stood real high in the cab next to me, and barked at those Bison by the road, letting her know who was boss in this territory:

(to see a 700 pixel wide image of the above collage, click here; to see a 1400 wide pixel image of the above picture, click here.)

When I got ahead of the Buffalo, I stopped and got out with Ben and Maggie (on leash). Little Maggie looked at the size and number of those Bison coming down the road, and got in touch with her inner sense of humility. She didn't make a peep.

(to see a 700 pixel wide image of the above collage, click here; to see a 1400 wide pixel image of the above picture, click here.)

The buffalo werent nearly exciting as the Grizzly mother with cubs that was on the hillside above the road on Dunraven pass:

(to see a 700 pixel wide image of the above collage, click here; to see a 1400 wide pixel image of the above picture, click here.)

She created a bear jam, and everybody was enjoying watching her and the cubs forage for insects and/or roots up there. Then she moved down to very near the road, and it got exciting, and tense, especially for the volunteer ranger who was trying to watch the Grizzly and control the crowd of people. I went back to the truck and got my bear pepper spray and stood near the ranger, who had his out and ready to use.

To understand how dangerous this potentially was, take a look at this video that a couple took in Yellowstone last year. A mother grizzly with three cubs got riled up at just a car being near her, and ran out and swatted the car with her big paw. Imagine if someone had been standing outside the car.

grizzly attacking a car

Now look at this photo I took, of a mother holding her child no more than a couple hundred feet from the bear and cubs:

(to see a 700 pixel wide image of the above image, click here; to see a 1400 wide pixel image of the above picture, click here.)

(to see a 700 pixel wide image of the above image, click here; to see a 1400 wide pixel image of the above picture, click here.)

What happened next is the mother and cubs started moving west along the road, staying just above the embankment. I realized Ben and Maggie were in their kennels in the back of my truck, and they would likely see the bears and bark at them, possibly upsetting Mom. I have read bears have strength that we can't imagine, and can smash in the side of a car with a hard blow. I walked down to the truck ahead of the bear and again put my dogs in the cab of the pickup with the windows rolled up.

Sure enough, she passed right behind the truck, then crossed the road.

After it was over, and Mom was down the hill with her cubs, I went up to the ranger and got his email address, with the purpose of sending the photos I took of him doing his best to handle the situation.

Pretty tough job for a volunteer on that morning, don't you think:

(to see a 700 pixel wide image of the above image, click here; to see a 1400 wide pixel image of the above picture, click here.)

My favorite photo is the one of the biker that came up the road, likely on the way to Sturgis, and found a mother Grizzly coming down an embankment towards him:

(to see a 700 pixel wide image of the above image, click here; to see a 1400 wide pixel image of the above picture, click here.)

I also saw the wolves in the Lamar valley. The alpha male of the Slough creek pack crossed the road a quarter mile down from where I was. Yellowstone is a wonderful place, and all this is fuel for the stories about wildlife I like to tell on my nature programs. There were some good ones this August.