A Grizzly Bear family on Towgotee Pass, Spring 2021. An Accident waiting to happen.

 

Renita had dropped me off at the parking area and then continued on to see where the bear was located. We agreed that she would then turn around and park in the pull off. I walked over to a group of photographers and asked where the bear was, and one said the bear was down the hillside.

So, I decided to walk along the berm hoping to get to a position where I could see the bear for a few photos. I took a picture of the bear tracks in the snow. As I walked, I looked to my side and suddenly saw the top of the bears back. It was too close to take any photos and I froze for a few seconds making sure the grizzly was not looking at me.

I then continued on past the bear and joined another group of photographers. Soon the bear emerged and then her two coys, cubs of the year. She was a famous, or should I say infamous bear that has stayed along the highway and endangered herself, her cubs, and the traffic.

I took a bunch of images as she and her cubs disappeared into a small copse of trees. It was the closest I have ever been to a grizzly bear and I hope I never get that close again. Meanwhile Renita and Val approached me and told ne that they had taken photos.

The grizzlies were out of sight and so we headed back to the car. Quite a few others were setting up their equipment and hoping the sow, (known locally as Felecia), would appear by the parking area. Someone yelled, “She crossed the road, and a rush of people ran across the snowbank.

One person punched through the deep snow and fell but was unhurt. A Clark's Nutcracker posed while we were waiting for the bears to emerge from the trees.

It was a false alarm and so we returned to our vigil. It was not long before the cubs appeared playing with each other and the person next to me whispered that if everyone stayed quiet, she would reappear in front of us.

When she did, she was so close that everyone picked up their equipment and moved out of her way.

We put several parked cars between us and her cubs and started to take more images. Others were around us and quite a few moved to another hillside, trying to intersect her as she neared the road.

She continued on past us and then started to dig plants, or tubers between us and the other bear watchers. She and her cubs ignored us, mostly, although one of the cubs stood up, while the other kept playing with his stick.

He would drop it for a bit and then return to pick it up as a chew toy.

The sow and her cubs were so close to the other photographers that we wondered why they did not move.

Luckily, she seemed at ease with all the people and started to move back down the hill.

We decided we had enough images of her and her cubs and so loaded up and headed back home.

It had been a great chance to watch her and her cubs, but I doubt if we will return to watch her.

Something bad is going to happen and as we watched a pickup truck roar by the crowd and laid on its horn, an accident waiting to happen. It did not slow down.

Clear skies

Ps I am taking these images with a 150-600 mm telephoto lens but we were still too close, at least we were behind cars.

The Highway Patrol, Wyoming Game and Fish Department. Large Carnivore specialist, and Bridger Teton National Forest are taking steps to alleviate the problem. This includes ticketing people parked illegally, (parking is only allowed in the designated pull offs), and hazing the bears away from the road. Let us hope it works.