The Old Conservationist : Fratrem nostrum urso. Vivat!

By their own account the two experienced back-country rangers did just about everything wrong. They were hiking a remote trail well into the wilderness of north-central Glacier National Park. They had a strong head wind, yet they made no noise nor did they take any other bear precautions. Bears - ursus americanus and ursus arctos horribilis - both prefer to avoid humans. If they smell you, you'll never see them. In fact, one author hypothesized that they do not like our smell. The Grizzly Bear (ursus arctos horribilis - a lousy, disrespectful name) does not have particularly good eyesight. It can hear about as well as a human, but its sense of smell is phenomenal. Contrary to the popular misconception, the bear does not raise up on its hind legs to attack but to see, hear and smell better. With a strong head wind there was no way a bear knew these two seasoned outdoorsmen were coming.

Pamela and I sat on the edge of our seats listening to our boss tell the story of his friends. Since the friends were alive to tell it, we knew the outcome was good, but our pulses raced with anticipation of what was to happen next.

Bear mothers are EXTREME protective of their cubs.

The two men rounded a corner on a narrow high mountain trail and were confronted by two Grizzly cubs. "Oh, ****!" You never, never, never ever want to be between a bear sow and her cub(s), but that's exactly what these two men had done. Before they could react the mother was on them. She knocked over the first ranger and pinned the second against the side of the mountain. She took one swipe at his head. Fortunately he was wearing a climbing helmet which kept him from being cut. The bear paused. Both men were down and motionless. They were of no threat to her cubs so she gathered her cubs and moved off. The only souvenir of the encounter was a cut on the forearm of one of the men which would probably leave a scar.

Telling their story they emphasized that the mother Grizzly acted perfectly normal and had done nothing wrong. She had perceived them as a threat to her cubs and she neutralized the threat. Nothing more. She did not maul them nor attempt to eat them. On the other hand, they were in her domain and had done just about everything wrong. It takes a strong person to admit that. They had survived a very scary lesson.

Our first Grizzly encounter at Avalanche Lake, 2014.

The Grizzly bear (ursus arctos horibillis) is also known as a Brown Bear, Kodiak Bear and Silvertip Bear. It is generally multi-colored. The Black Bear (ursus americanus) is generally a solid color but may be any color from white to black. Since humans are encroaching on the bear's last refuge when they enter the park, the basic policy by which we work is (1) in the front-country we move the bear for its own safety and protection - i.e. so that it doesn't get hit by a car or get hooked on human foods; and (2) in the back-country we move the humans - e.g. if a bear wants to fish in a back-country lake, we move the people out and keep them out until the bear is done.

Sadly most people think of the Grizzly bear (ursus arctos) as some sort of monster and the Black bear (ursus americanus) as a teddy bear. Both are total misconceptions. The picture to the left is the type of things which floats around the internet reinforcing such misconceptions. Yes, even I have to laugh at such humor, but the difference is that I know the bear isn't chasing the bicycle because he's a monster wanting to devour the rider. Bears are omnivores and therefore are, at times, predatory. Predators have a pursuit instinct; viz. if it runs it must be food and therefore you must chase it. This is why, in Bear School I (basic bear training), one is taught to never attempt to run from a bear. Despite their bulk and appearance, they can do 40 mph in a sprint. Even Lance Armstrong on steroids isn't going to beat that. I did meet a ranger who is a cyclist who had this experience but he was already moving fast when the bear gave chase. Nevertheless, the bear almost caught him. He could hear the bear's claws on the asphalt just behind him. The bear evidently decided that he wasn't worth wasting the calories. You see, bears of all types are calorie machines - i.e. all they can think about from spring to hibernation is consuming mass calories.

From March through May Grizzly bears feed primarily on animals that have been killed by winter storms or avalanches (Gunther and Renkin 1990, Mattson 1997). "Grizzly bears also dig up pocket gopher caches in localized areas where they are abundant. Other items consumed during spring include succulent grasses and sedges during early green-up, dandelion, clover, spring-beauty, horsetail, and ants. During spring, grizzly bears will also feed on whitebark pine seeds stored in red squirrel caches during years when there is an abundance of over-wintered seeds left over from the previous fall." (Mattson and Jonkel 1990)

This is why you have a good chance of finding a bear - Black or Grizzly - near an avalanche chute. It is like the frozen food section of the wilderness. There is one stretch of Going-to-the-Sun Road that is lined with Glacier Lillies (a bear favorite at Glacier National Park) and has a nearby avalanche chute. One day in 2014 we encountered three Black bears on this 2 mile stretch of road.

The picture of the bear to the right isn't the actual one we encountered. It is a photo that has been floating around the internet for a while with the caption "Are you a runner? You are now." Nevertheless this is exactly what we saw coming toward us. We have no idea why he was running at full speed because he came to a stop about 30 yards in front of us. Of course none of the visitors walking the road had bear spray, so we quickly became everyone's best friends. We did everything by the book as we had been taught, but the bear didn't want to go the other way. In the end result he ambled past us, on the other side of an 18 foot wide road as you can see in the picture of him below.

The bear who ambled past us after running toward us at full speed.

Yes, people can visit Glacier National Park and never see a bear. Others see a Grizzly and five black bears all on a 2.5 mile hike. Glacier does have more bears than anywhere else in the lower 48 States. We have 6-800 Grizzly Bears and countless Black Bears. The bear population is growing at about 3% a year. More bears frequent the Camus Creek area of Glacier than most places in North America, according to wildlife biologist, Dr. John Waller. Dr Waller did his PhD dissertation studying bears in Glacier and is now the head biologist ranger for the park.

In the summer grizzly bears eat succulent grasses, sedges, dandelion, clover, spring-beauty, horsetail, and bugs. In addition, thistle, biscuit root, fireweed, fern-leaved lovage, and army cutworm moths are consumed. (Gunther and Renkin 1990). A female who has mated during the spring must surpass 15% body fat for the pregnancy to take. This is also the time of year that the trout start spawning and the bears go fishing. Hidden Lake, right on the Continental Divide just west of Logan Pass, is such a hot spot for bears that the trail is closed for several weeks. When I was patrolling the Hidden Lake Trail in late June I had several hikers chased away by a Grizzly. We closed the trail. Later in the summer the berries start to appear and the bears begin feeding on strawberry, globe huckleberry, grouse whortleberry, and buffaloberry. The favorite at Glacier is huckleberry. Before the snow starts flying in September false truffles, bistort, and yampa are added to their diet.

Notice the Grizzly claws. They are designed to dig.

During the Glacier season (May - Sept) we are taught to watch for and recognize bear signs. Obviously bear skat is a dead giveaway. Black bears have short (by comparison), curved claws that are much more suited for climbing than digging. The Grizzly, on the other hand, is a digger. With long, straighter claws and those massive muscular shoulders, they are quite efficient diggers for food items such as roots, bulbs, corms, tubers as well as rodents and animals that den in the ground. Contrary to popular belief, the Grizzly's claws are not designed for tearing flesh of unsuspecting humans but for digging. Some of the most common signs are scratching trees, where they like to rub their backs, trees they have clawed to get at insects, rocks flipped on a trail and large areas which look like they've had a rototiller go through.

Bear digging for bulbs and tubers.

A dig area I found on the Sperry Trail.

Bears flip stones to find bugs.

Friend, colleague and hiking companion, CGH Tom Spalding, and I were hiking the trail to the Sperry Chalet. Tom had not worked in Grizzly country before and I was sharing what I learned in the basic and advanced bear schools I had attended. As it turned out the trail was filled with Grizzly bear signs. There was no doubt that we were in Grizzly country and that there was one or more Grizzly bears active in the area. We talked to a back country volunteer, whom we met on the trail, who had been up the trail earlier that morning and said that the dig, pictured above, was not there when she went by. The bear was close.

A Grizzly has clawed this tree for insects.

The ironic part of this story is that it wasn't a Grizzly that we encountered. We were passing through a portion of trail that was very heavily over-grown. I suddenly noticed a very large black rump sticking out of the thickets. It was close enough that I could swat it with my trail pole. Tom was in front of me and almost brushing the bear. All I could do was quietly say "bear". The bear was too close for anything else. I didn't want to startle it or draw attention to us too soon. Tom, an extremely experienced wilderness person, didn't see the bear but, upon hearing me, moved to stand beside me without delay or question. The bear was obviously so engrossed in what it had found in the bushes that it didn't notice our approach even though we were talking and not being quiet. The overgrowth was so thick that the bear had to back out. When he saw us 10-15 feet away he looked as surprised as us. We talked to him . . . which is what you're suppose to do . . . and moved slowly backwards widening the distance between us. The bear seemed to think that was a good idea. It did the same thing in the opposite direction. When it felt safe it turned and moved off through the thicket. I love seeing these magnificent animals, but I would have preferred a bit more room.

There is no time here to either share all of our bear encounters or to do justice to this magnificent creature. The Black bear is still found in many parts of the US, but it is being systematically pushed out of its habitat and slaughtered for fun. The Grizzly is protected because it is an endangered species, but that doesn't stop poachers.

The bear is extremely important to the ecosystem. Because berry seeds pass through the bear's digestive system unbroken, the seeds are able to germinate. Not only does the bear disperse the seeds but it provides fresh manure as fertilizer. The digging of the Grizzly bear stirs up the soil, increasing plant species richness and nitrogen availability in a fragile alpine ecosystem. They also spread salmon carcass and other animal remains which enriches the soil.

The Grizzly bear, and to a slightly lesser extent the Black bear, helps to regulate and prevent ungulate overgrazing. Many decades ago people got the idea of destroying the "bad" animals - i.e. carnivores. With the carnivores gone the ungulates - deer, elk, sheep and goats - overgrazed causing tremendous problems. The reintroduction of the carnivores solved the problem. A study in Grand Teton National Park, as reported by the Western Wildlife Outreach (an educational organization in Washington and Idaho), showed conclusively that the removal of wolves and Grizzly bears in Grand Teton caused populations of their herbivorous prey to increase, which decreased the density of plants in the area. The decrease of the plant density led to a decrease in migratory birds and spoiling of water sources. Bears, like all carnivores, are keystone predators and have a significant influence on their ecosystems.

However true this is and however valuable the bear is to its ecosystem and our world, I must admit that I find it a bit presumptuous on the part of the homo sapien to say that any living thing's right to exist is dependent upon its contribution to the ecosystem. This is especially true since the homo sapien is a destructive invasive species which, if the tables were turned, would be eradicated for the preservation of the world's ecosystem.

In the movie Star Trek IV Spock comments on the destruction of the Humpbacked Whale. "To hunt a species to extinction is illogical," he said. To which Captain Kirk replied, "Who said the human race was logical?"

Are we really so illogical? Or are we so full of ourselves and so determined for our own immediate gratification that we don't care what we do to others?

Again to paraphrase Spock. 'Friend, if we were to assume these animals were ours to do with as we pleased, we would be as guilty as those who are causing their extinction.' If you are as enamored as am I with the marvelous nature of which we are all a part, there are many ways you can participate. Check out organizations like National Wildlife Federation and Sierra Club. Spend some time in a park where you can get to know such wonderful creatures like the bear on a personal basis.