Trail cam pics.

[Barry Willis]

Deer, fox, wolf and bear. This black bear, a good size one of a cinnamon blonde color phase spent fifteen minutes in front of the camera but unfortunately to close to get a picture of his face and never lifted his head once. Just out of hibernation and in very good shape having not eaten for five months or more, and hungry, he was sniffing the ground where I had put some corn the month before which my old arthritic hands dropped and it spilled too close to the camera. Haven't got a picture of a lone wolf (an outcast) for years. I wish it been during day light hours. Sorry Lew, no moose this time.

Edited April 30 by Barry Willis

[lew]

Really nice pictures Barry, is that cinnamon color common for black bears out your way ?

[Barry Willis]

Thank you Lew, It is fairly rare as most are typically black. It may sound silly but I feel very privileged when I do see one. In all the decades I have spent in the Rockies and their foothills I have only seen five counting this one.  I have pictures of one (somewhere) that I spotted about thirty years ago near Elbow Falls sw. of Calgary that was so blonde it was almost white, it was gorgeous. The one I posted yesterday still has his winter coat. I can't believe how beautiful it is, so thick and luxurious. I would love to pat him and run my hands through it but I don't expect he would let me LOL. Here's a pic you may remember from last summer taken about two miles west, a little darker in color but I expect they are from the same gene pool. 

[lew]

I do remember that picture Barry& those bears with the light brown hair look similar to the Spirit Bears from B.C. which are almost white Black Bears and may be what you saw before.

Edited April 30 by lew

[Barry Willis]

Yes, you are absolutely right Lew. Especially the one I mentioned near Elbow Falls. I don't expect I will any time soon but if I find the 35mm pictures of it I will certainly post them. According to my bear biologist buddy Brian H. it is indeed a very rare bear for these parts or any where else for that matter. They are truly a beautiful animal and a sight to behold. That guy from last summer, I have five pictures of him and is clearly on a mission, he knows exactly where he is going.

[TroutnMuskieHunter]

Nice shots!!

 

[AKRISONER]

curious barry, given the location, what is helping you distinguish that golden bear as a black from a juvenile grizz?

That bear to me looks like a young grizzly, but I know nothing to help me distinguish between the two.

I know most folks think the grizz are in the actual mountains, but my cousin has had them on his property near hinton.

[Barry Willis]

Howdy Akrisoner, it's been a spell. Unless you have been around bears as much as I have it can be difficult to tell the difference. The way I put it is if you see a black bear, you're not sure if it is a grizzly or a black bear, if you see a grizzly you know it is a grizzly and not a black bear. My wife and I, especially myself have spent decades studying bears especially grizzlies. I was very fortunate to have worked along side  bear biologists to tag and weigh etc. grizzlies from helicopter. This is actually a fairly big bear and lacks the very distinctive shoulder hump that grizzlies have even at a young age. It gives them incredibly powerful shoulders and front legs . A grizzly does not have the tall rounded ears of the black bear and also the grizzly has a concave face from it's eyes to the tip of it's nose where as a black bear has a relatively straight face from it's forehead to the tip of it's nose. Colors can vary widely for both bears. Even grizzlies can be from their typical brown color to several different shades of brown to black and white and one never knows where you may come across one, they certainly are not restricted to the mountains. A few years ago a fellow was killed by a grizzly an hours drive north west from the house here, west of Airdrie, and I have seen grizzlies near Hinton. Here's a picture for comparison. I must say I envy your cousin living near Hinton. Beautiful country, that's where I should be living with my outdoor photography and other activities.

 

Edited May 1 by Barry Willis

[Barry Willis]

  I have hundreds but here just some of the pics I am fondest of. Notice the cub in front of mom. She is on high alert as all mother bears are. The worst thing you can meet and or especially surprise is a mother grizzly with cubs. I can assure you the out come will be in the grizzlies favor.

Edited May 1 by Barry Willis

[AKRISONER]

Barry thanks for the explanation. This is great.

interestingly my cousin’s good friend was attacked by a grizzly while mountain climbing in the park. He ended up having a significant part of his thigh torn off of his leg and ended up in the hospital for a long time. My cousin wss sure to bring his sons with him to visit his friend in the hospital. He wanted to drill into their heads that bear and wildlife safety is no joke. He specifically had a rule about not being out of site while they were young. Between the grizzlies and mountain lions that hung around his place they both presented a very real threat to young kids. 
 

Interestingly the local mountain lion that frequented his driveway would hiss at him like a house cat. Funny how such a big animal still displays regular feline behaviour! lol

[Barry Willis]

Good morning AKRISONER, thank you, I can't imagine what your cousin's good friend went through. In most grizzly attacks the bear goes for the head or the thigh. Your cousin did the right thing in my mind by taking his sons to the hospital to witness first hand what dangers do lurk in the wild especially in their neck of the woods. Grizzly bears are incredibly fast, they can out run a quarter horse for a hundred yards. I've been very lucky the same hasn't happened to me with all my close encounters. The trouble with me is once I get out of the city and back in the bush I feel too comfortable and let my guard down. And always want to try and get closer and better picture than I have already taken. f anyone should know better it's me. A funny thing, well maybe not so funny, I had plans of going to tend to my trail cams this past Friday morning again, more for something to do and get out the city than any thing else, couldn't sleep the night before as something kept telling me not to go so I didn't, it was such a strong feeling that I can't explain. Maybe that was the morning my luck was going to run out, I don't know, it still bothers me. If there is anything I have learned in life is to go with my instincts. And I always go alone which I likely shouldn't and I don't think my wife will let me anymore lol. Speaking of mountain lions I hate them stealthy, back attacking cats. A few weeks ago there was a piece on the news of a guy out walking his dog near Canmore and claimed he was attacked by one and said he pulled it off his back and scared it off,  I'm thinking yeah right, like Hell you did. Couple weeks later it was on the news again as it was a bunch of Bull. Well no kidding, there is no way he could have done that, I don't care if it was a 200lb lion (which is not uncommon) or one that only weighs 60lbs even if he was Hulk Hogan, not going to happen. When a mountain lion attacks a human in most cases, and this only takes them a second or two, they jump on your back, put their front legs over your shoulders and dig their claws into into your front and bite down on your neck so you can't breath. thus suffocating the person. Most times one doesn't even know they are there until it's too late. 

[AKRISONER]

I have learned so much about bears. This is awesome. 
 

I for whatever reason have an irrational fear of bears…but perhaps not? I absolutely love seeing them, but they terrify me. Every time I’m in the woods I’m concerned about crossing one with cubs. 
 

an awesome interaction I had with a big black bear was one bass opener morning in zone 14 I’d just caught 3 4lb smallies schooled off of a rock face and had stunk up the boat with fish smell and sure enough a few minutes later out walked a big black bear no more than 10 yards from me. I think he/she was surprised to see a human in a boat standing right there. He took a really good sniff and the went on his way. Needless to say I was happy to be in a boat 🤣

[lew]

13 minutes ago, AKRISONER said:

Every time I’m in the woods I’m concerned about crossing one with cubs. 
 

 

A few years ago I was walking along a dirt road up on Nipissing and heard a noise just off to my right. I turned and 2 small bear cubs came out from behind a fallen tree and a couple seconds later Momma came out and I figured right then I may be in trouble. I'll never forget the look on her face, she pushed between the 2 cubs and was staring right at me as she lowered her head and her ears went straight back. I'm no bear expert but to me her message was loud and clear...take off right now...I slowly backed away and fortunately me she didn't follow me. 

It was a tad bit tense for a few seconds but now I'm happy it happened as it something I may never encounter again.

Another incident I had was on the dirt road I live on. I was out for my daily 4 mile walk early one morning when a bear came up out of the ditch beside the road only 40 feet in front of me. He was looking away from me so I made a noise to let him know I was there and when he saw me he made a loud grunting sound then turned and ran back into the woods. I don't think he was running scared but rather just wanted to get away from me.

Again, another encounter I'm happy happened to me.

[Barry Willis]

I must say I envy you for catching them smallies. Pound for pound they are one of the best scrappers. There are no bass here in Alberta and I sure miss them. I've made a couple trips to BC just for some bass fishing on Duck Lake near Creston. Big large mouth and lots of sunfish, perch and rock bass. Most anglers in BC (at least 30 years ago) frowned upon bass and won't even fish for them as they are so into their salmon fishing. Why not enjoy the best of both. I don't doubt that you were happy to be in your boat when that bear came along looking for a meal. I'm not a bit surprised it left the area when it detected you. I expect this was in June, so it would have been out of hibernation long enough to have food in it's belly. Once out of hibernation the bear spends all it's time eating in preparation for the next big sleep.  There is an old saying that a bear can smell bacon frying three miles away. Which doesn't surprise me, I can smell it at least a mile away, I love the stuff LOL. They do have a very keen sense of smell. Of course black bears are not as aggressive toward humans but one should still be aware of their surroundings when in bear country.  Howdy Lew, as you have proven, you did do the right thing by slowly backing away, those that run when it's too late tend to suffer the most serious injuries as it excites the predatory instinct in a bear and in most cases it will give chase and the rest is up to the bear. And also drawing attention to the other one you encountered which doesn't take much. Some say to be very loud and make yourself look big and aggressive if you confront a black bear (but not a grizzly) as far as I am concerned with my experience it all depends on the bear, maybe he's in a bad mood and ticked off at the world and looking for a fight or could be he's feeling just the opposite. They are as individual in personality as our dogs. In my stompin grounds I always carry bear spray, two bottles of it because it is grizzly country and there are quite a few of them. If it was just black bear I wouldn't carry any. I really don't want to have to use it on a bear as It is just horrible stuff but I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it. Thank you. This old computer won't let me put my long winded stories into paragraphs.

Edited May 8 by Barry Willis