Leslie Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Glorious day of bear watching.
The sun was out (along with the mosquitoes) and we started out for the falls. When we got to the footbridge the ranger told us that if we moved very quickly we could cross but that a bear was headed down river and that the bridge would soon be closed. As soon as we got to the other side the ranger there told us that we had to come up on the platform immediately. There was a sow and two cubs very close to the bridge. Although we never got to the falls before lunch, several sows and cubs kept us entertained for hours. We stood on the platform watching the cubs play, and sleep, and wait for mom to go fishing. You’ll notice that one of the cubs has an injury above her eye. The range told us that they do not know how that occurred and that for awhile they were afraid she would lose the eye. The eye now appears to be open so they are hopeful that the cub will retain her vision. The pictures are great. Enjoy!
Mosquitos are fierce!
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Sleeping with mom
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Injured Eye
http://CarpediemAdventures.smugmug.com/photos/331503087_R59Cn-M.jpg
See my teeth
http://CarpediemAdventures.smugmug.com/photos/331503079_6zanQ-M.jpg
Two cubs
http://CarpediemAdventures.smugmug.com/photos/331502993_f5q7K-M.jpg
Eyeing some grass
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Nose with mom
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After several hours we were able to cross the bridge back to camp. (A number of people who were flying out at noon were trapped with us on the platform; the staff had to shuttle them acoss the river by canoe for them to catch their float plane back to the airport.)
Later in the afternoon we finally made it to the falls. The fish were jumping and the bear were still fishing. I waited hours for the bear on top of the falls to catch a fish attempting to jump over the falls.
From the top of the falls
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Other bears were having a dispute over fishing grounds.
http://CarpediemAdventures.smugmug.com/photos/331503027_5e4mr-M.jpg
The bear on the right gave up.
http://CarpediemAdventures.smugmug.com/photos/331503031_YhE6W-M.jpg
Since it wasn’t raining the mosquitos were extremely thick. We both wore our headnets almost all day. After awhile you get used to looking through the netting. We had bought the nice headnets at REI in Boulder. Early in the day some people would look at us as if we were dredded weirdly. Later in the afternoon those same people had purchased the cheaply made headnets at the camp store. I discovered later that even though I had on long nylon pants with elastic bands around the cuffs, the mosquitoes had bitten my knees through the pants! Those are fierce bugs!
We got trapped at the platform for over an hour on our way back to camp. There was another family of sow and two cubs playing around the foot bridge. These cubs were really active and had a good time playing while mom was fishing.
http://CarpediemAdventures.smugmug.com/photos/331503136_SQVzR-M.jpg
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Waiting for mom
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Mom is fishing. All is okay.
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Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Big Bears and Little Bears
Robert, Wednesday, July 9
Sunshine! This morning was beautiful with lots of sunshine and blue sky. We got going and headed for the falls once again. Headed we were but we didn’t make it. When we got to the bridge, the ranger said we could cross if we moved fast. We just got across and they closed the bridge. We climbed the platform at the bridge to watch the show at our feet. The bridge is almost at the mouth of Brooks River where it empties into Naknek Lake. The falls, which is half way between the two lakes, is where the big male bears fish. There are smaller males there as well but they stay out of the way of the big boys. When one of the smaller males catches a fish, if they don’t take the fish and run, one of the big boars takes it away. If a big boar decides he wants to fish where one of the smaller males is fishing, the little guy turns tail and quickly gets out of town. And most of the males, large and small, carry signs of previous fights. They have multiple, visible scars and some have teeth sticking out of their mouths at odd angles that look like the result of a broken jaw that never set properly. Anyway, the males are a serious threat to cubs. That means that a sow with cubs stays away from the falls. The place the sows with cubs gather is near the floating bridge. We just got to the platform overlooking the bridge when we were told that we couldn’t leave as there were sows with cubs all around us. Sows with cubs can be more dangerous than a big male. They will defend their cubs against anything they perceive as a threat. There was a sow with two cubs at each end of the bridge. My guess is that the sows learn that being close to people tends to keep the boars away. The boars will kill a cub if they can catch it. We were on the platform for several hours before we could leave but there were sows with cubs within 20 feet of us, Still at the bridge were hundreds and perhaps thousands of salmon so the sows would leave the cubs at the foot of the platform while they fished. Every now and then a young male would get too close and the sow would quickly return to the cubs. Every time the male got the message and moved away. Shortly after noon the bridge reopened and we went back to the campsite for lunch. After lunch we made our way to the falls but there weren’t fish jumping. There were the usual ten or twelve bears fishing but the rate they caught fish was far less than the day before. We returned to the platform at the bridge where we again watched several sows with cubs. After that it was back to the campground, dinner, and bed.
Sunshine! This morning was beautiful with lots of sunshine and blue sky. We got going and headed for the falls once again. Headed we were but we didn’t make it. When we got to the bridge, the ranger said we could cross if we moved fast. We just got across and they closed the bridge. We climbed the platform at the bridge to watch the show at our feet. The bridge is almost at the mouth of Brooks River where it empties into Naknek Lake. The falls, which is half way between the two lakes, is where the big male bears fish. There are smaller males there as well but they stay out of the way of the big boys. When one of the smaller males catches a fish, if they don’t take the fish and run, one of the big boars takes it away. If a big boar decides he wants to fish where one of the smaller males is fishing, the little guy turns tail and quickly gets out of town. And most of the males, large and small, carry signs of previous fights. They have multiple, visible scars and some have teeth sticking out of their mouths at odd angles that look like the result of a broken jaw that never set properly. Anyway, the males are a serious threat to cubs. That means that a sow with cubs stays away from the falls. The place the sows with cubs gather is near the floating bridge. We just got to the platform overlooking the bridge when we were told that we couldn’t leave as there were sows with cubs all around us. Sows with cubs can be more dangerous than a big male. They will defend their cubs against anything they perceive as a threat. There was a sow with two cubs at each end of the bridge. My guess is that the sows learn that being close to people tends to keep the boars away. The boars will kill a cub if they can catch it. We were on the platform for several hours before we could leave but there were sows with cubs within 20 feet of us, Still at the bridge were hundreds and perhaps thousands of salmon so the sows would leave the cubs at the foot of the platform while they fished. Every now and then a young male would get too close and the sow would quickly return to the cubs. Every time the male got the message and moved away. Shortly after noon the bridge reopened and we went back to the campsite for lunch. After lunch we made our way to the falls but there weren’t fish jumping. There were the usual ten or twelve bears fishing but the rate they caught fish was far less than the day before. We returned to the platform at the bridge where we again watched several sows with cubs. After that it was back to the campground, dinner, and bed.
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