Bears and More Bears!

Anan Creek is a special place in July. Salmon are returning and the bears show up to gorge themselves on a high calorie diet, fattening up for hibernation. Both black and brown bears are here, and it's amusing to see how the black bears keep out of the way of their larger cousin.

Most of these shots were taken from a blind set up by the forest service, and at times, had I been stupid enough, I could have reached out and touched the one brown bear among the blacks. Glenda called him her movie star bear, and it's true, he looked so healthy and so handsome (he's a male.)

Patti and Marty were with us, traveling from Petersburg to Wrangell, then to Ketchikan. They flew home yesterday and for the first time this summer, Glenda and I will have the boat to ourselves for the next 700 or so miles. The weather is nasty the next few days, so we'll wait here before crossing Dixon Entrance (open ocean) to Prince Rupert. There, we'll rent a car and drive up the Skeena River to visit friends Jenny and Paul in Hazleton, BC. Then back aboard and south through northern BC, picking our way down the Inside Passage. After the second ocean crossing (Queen Charlotte Sound) we'll hook up with friends Jan and Dave in Blind Channel, and will continue on home with them.

So the next (and last?) blog may be a couple of weeks away.

Until then, be happy and well.

Peter

We think this was a 3 year old cub.

The black bears spend a lot more time watching than catching fish

But every once in a while they succeed. I shot this with a slow shutter speed to give a sense of the speed of the water. This is actually a shot of the poor fish.

This was one bulky black bear

Despite their size, bears in general are remarkably agile, which they need to be in these dense forests

Here he is. "Movie Star bear" This is a young male brown bear. They grow to 1100+ pounds and 8-9 feet tall

Peekaboo Bear. He watched for a long time before coming down to join his peers in the creek. He's a black bear with cinnamon coloration.

This guy was amazingly good at fishing. I think he caught 10 fish for every one the black bears caught. Check out the claws!

He spend half the time climbing around the rocks and half the time wading with his head under water

This was with a 100mm lens! You could have gotten a picture almost this close with an iPhone

Of course there was lots of other wildlife. This raven spent quite some time talking to us.

Two black bears saying hi.

These guys were hanging around to pick up scraps

Yay. The cub got one.

What were they both looking at?

The claws were simply awesome. And their paws remarkably agile at holding the fish.

Eagles constantly swooped by.