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Posted by Granite Head (63.166.31.97) on 08:22:00 05/14/16
In Reply to: The Lamar River posted by Granite Head
This is the small young grizzly sow who, with her three tiny COYs frequented the bank of the Gibbon for a few days, I believe May 2 may have been the last day they appeared. This is a good thing, actually. Although this stretch of road between Beryl Spring and Gibbon Falls is ideal for bear jams in the sense that it's got excellent shoulders wide enough on both sides for people to pull fully off the road (no cars abandoned in the middle of the road, running, with doors wide open and no sign of the occupants, one of several major hazards associated with animal jams), the presence of so many people crowding around the river bank spooked and unnerved mother bear, especially the day prior to this. Rangers kept onlookers in pretty good control but the bears nonetheless exhibited hesitation and nervousness.
I got there the end of this episode and had no sense of how many people were there until the bears were gone and I moved on south, where cars lined the road all the way to the falls. For whatever reason the number of cars to the north of the bears was vastly smaller, and the people well behaved and showing self-restraint. I'm glad I got a glance at this family and am glad they've moved on, for now.
In this photo they had just crossed the river (shiny wet fur, no good for photography in the bright sun!) and the road and were heading up to safety and privacy.
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