Black Bear Mother on Alert

Its summer in Yellowstone and bears abound!  In the past week we’ve seen bears daily, most recently we watched two sets of Black Bear with cubs. One mother fed voraciously while her young double-basketball sized youngster slept. A clever one, he lounged atop a Witches Broom (a mass of contorted conifer twigs that grow tightly together in response to fungal infection) like a puppy on a couch. My favorite bear was one with cinnamon tones in her pelage. She grazed non-stop in lush grass by a picnic area in Red Lodge, seemingly unaware. Then, one off-noise and she instantly rose to respond, to protect those cubs if needed. That ability to INSTANTLY change is a defining part of the character of bears. It commands our respect each day as we loll in fields of flowers and search out birds. Today we are off to look for nesting Common Loon, Moose, Trumpeter Swans, Sandhill Cranes and more – in one of Yellowstone’s more remote corners – the southeast side via Grassy Lake Road – and we’ll be on the alert for bears!