Wild Memories Photography Tours

Well, it was quite a day in Yellowstone with a lot of black bears deciding to get wild and crazy – just the way I like to see them!

But, first, the particulars.  The Lamars had a carcass near Trout Lake this morning but according to Rick they left immediately when the cars arrived.  Did go back through there but saw nothing going on and am feeling opposed to stalking those two.  Rick did mention that the pair had been gone for two days, which makes me wonder about the pups.

Two days ago I was told that both Lamars were on the other side of the valley and that there were signals for 889 in the same area.  Nothing for 755.  The plane got nothing on 755 and according to Rick, he knows nothing about the wolf – not sure that I believe that but that is what I am told.  Anyway, 889 was 12 miles out of the park in a campground on Monday and in Lamar on Wednesday.  She has a habit of going through the Lamar’s den area and so the fact that the three were in close proximity makes me wonder if she went through again.  Wolves are such a mystery.  Oh, and I was told by Jeremy that 911’s group, which includes him, the black female and the male JB yearling, were in Soda Butte Valley the day before, while the Lamars were away.  So, just praying that pups are safe.

I have been down to Canyon a few times but have not seen the pack down there but then their hang out is a long ways off.  Also, I have not stopped to see the pups on the Blacktail because they are a long ways off and it is just painful to try and watch.

There is a bison carcass on the Blacktail and it has been there for 5 days without any action.

So, first thing today I found out that the Lamars had a carcass and then went on, heading over to Hayden.  But on Washburn there was another bear jam forming and so I stopped to take a look.  No mom and two cubs but there was a cinnamon grazing in a field.  Some young guys had entered the bear management area and so I went over to let them know that they didn’t want to be there.  One of the volunteers showed up and discovered another cinnamon up the road, surrounded by people and so she asked me to keep an eye out on the other bear.  By this time the young guys had snuck off into the woods.

I asked some folks to get back because the bear had come closer and one young man of about 14 refused.  The bear came closer and so I told him again and he finally came back a little ways.  A couple began asking me questions about bears and so I was telling them what I know, explaining about food sources, etc.  I mentioned hibernation and the young man and his father got all snotty and told me that bears don’t hibernate.  I ignored them and carried on, talking about fewer wolves meant less food for the bears and then they wanted to know why there were fewer wolves and so I told them about hunting and poaching.  The man with the young boy demanded to know where I lived because I sure never lived anywhere where they had to put a fence around a school to keep the bears out. Now, he was not a part of the conversation and was just looking for a fight so I told him that I wasn’t going to discuss it with him.  He said he didn’t like my point of view and I said we were not going to discuss it but did say that I thought that the animals were here before us and it was our responsibility to co-exist.

The couple was most grateful for the conversation and were quite lovely.  One woman did tell me that we were looking at black bears and that I didn’t know anything.  “Probably not,” I told her.  Why do folks have to be so nasty when people are trying to be nice?

The man and son left but the son soon returned and yelled at me, demanding to know who I was.  I told him to go talk to the ranger and he kept demanding and yelling.  So, his bully father is teaching him well.  Pretty amazing as I had been most polite and was just answering questions to the best of my ability – didn’t even have a camera out because a grazing bear doesn’t interest me.

And then the other bear began heading towards the grazing bear and I grabbed the camera to catch the interaction and behavior.  The larger bear chased the small bear, that turned out to be a sow, up a tree and tried to get her but she told him to go away.  After a couple of attempts the boar was grazing when cinnamon black bear number three came on the scene.  Number two left but obviously was not threatened by number 3.  Number three eventually made his way to the tree and on up, at which time the little lady came down and allowed herself to be courted.  And then the chase was on.  Two boars, one girl playing hard to get and they were crossing the street, walking down the street, going nuts.  One volunteer had a bear in front and one behind.

During all of this they asked for my help a couple of times but mostly I just stayed back.  But, did get the camera out, just in time for the head ranger to show up – so all of my good deeds were for naught.  Well, I thought that I would stay away from bear jams but that didn’t work so well.

Later in the day I was headed towards Blacktail when I discovered love in the wildflowers!  Finally got to see bears doing the love thing and must say that it was pretty fascinating.  The kind of action that translates better in video than in still shots.

The love sessions went on and on for about an hour or more and drew quite a crowd, many of whom did not know what they were watching until getting a closer look.  There was some explaining to do to some of the youngsters.

There were brief moments of tenderness.

The bears finished and were heading our way and so I left, unfortunately, and went to the Blacktail to find that nothing had come in on the carcass.

I returned to Floating Island and found the boar in the gorgeous wildflowers, though, unfortunately, there was not a lot of light.  Still beautiful though.

And, that is the end of my tale for today.  So much action and so much I want to write about but the stories keep on coming.