Wednesday Reprint 7/6/22

Continuing the re-posting of some of my favorite photos form prior blog posts as Wednesday Reprints...

This summer there has been an uptick in Black Bear (North American Black Bear) sightings in the State College area, as well as signs of their presence, such as a totally destroyed bird feeder that previously hung on a now bent over ¾ inch iron shepherd’s crook, bear scat on lawns, and an early morning bear sightings on a golf course adjacent to a residential area. Black bears typically retreat when they see human. The main exception is a mother bear with cubs. Nonetheless, to be safe it is advised that we slowly retreat if you see a Black Bear.

Their cousins, the Grizzle Bears (North American Brown Bear) are a different animal: they are much larger (males can reach 1,000 lbs and stand 8 ft tall when on their rear legs), have a distinguishing concave forehead, and are much more aggressive and unpredictable. Thousands of people travel each year to Grizzle Bear habitat in the Western States and Alaska in hopes of seeing them in the wild.

In September of 2019, Sue and I traveled 90 miles into Denali National Park for four days where we saw a dozen or so Grizzle Bears, as well as other wildlife, e.g., moose, caribou/reindeer, Dall sheep, beaver. These photos of Grizzles were taken at a safe distance - with a long lens on a hand-held camera and so are a little fuzzy in some cases.

The above photos show Grizzle Bears in the fall searching for the last of the season's berries, somewhat uninterested in other aspects of their surroundings. Below is a photo of a Grizzle Bear taken by Bill Sission, a friend and much more accomplished photographer, in Denali in April 2015. The Grizzle's eyes communicate a completely different message.