More Grizzly Bears in Grand Teton National Park

Leaving Jen and Eric’s house we headed to our place in Star Valley. A day before we arrived we received an email from Josh who told us or place was all set up, (in other words he had dewinterized hooked up the water, etc). The next two days involved unpacking, cleaning, and checking our rock collections, (they all survived the winter). Deciding we needed a break we decided to visit Grand Teton National Park, hoping to find a bear or two. Soon after entering the park, we drove past the Oxbow Bend and found a huge bear jam.

Our cameras were ready and so Renita dropped me off, found a parking spot and walked back to meet me. The bears were still visible. They were on the other side of a copse of trees and Renita started taking pictures, using the manual focus. Whenever the object is in or behind trees the automatic focus is worthless as it puts the trees in focus and the subject is blurry, (the first pictures were all Renitas).

The bears teased us, as two of the cubs were sleeping. Bear 1063, (nicknamed Bonita), was grubbing. Grizzly bears are diggers. If you look closely, you can see the hump which is not present on Black Bears. The hump is a mass of muscle and bone which provides support for their digging. Finally, the other two cubs woke up and joined Mom and the largest cub digging for grubs and plants.

It always amazes us that grizzly bears graze like a herd of cows. That is until the cow elk calves are born at which time the bears, wolves, and coyotes all hunt the newborn calves.

Several times the sow, Bonita, herded her cubs towards the road, attempting to cross. The members of the Wildlife management team blocked the road, and one drove his vehicle in front of the bears hazing them using his horn, siren, and flashing lights to prevent them from crossing. In past years they were allowed to cross, and we wondered why this has changed, (perhaps because 399 and another of her offspring were hit and killed by cars). Do not speed!.

Bonita was blocked and so she tried to walk around a tree and cross at another place. Again, she and the cubs were hazed and again we wondered why. In the past, bear 399 and her cubs were allowed to cross. One of the team spoke to us and said that they didn’t want them at Colter Bay as there were too many workers getting ready for the summer season.a S

wainsons hawk soared overhead an I managed to get a decent photograph, We decided we had enough pictures, about four hundred, and so we had a picnic lunch at the Jackson Lake overlook.

Calling it a day we drove back home, stopping at Jackson to buy necessities. It had been another great day as we spotted four grizzly bears, numerous elk, and even a yellow rumped warbler. We did use the app Merlin, to record the singing birds, but it was just the usual red crowned kinglets. Clear skies