A Walk in the Park...with Bears!

Today was our longest day in the park! We were up and to a ranger tour in the Canyon area by 9:30 which doesn't sound like a big deal! But in YNP, the speed limit is 45 mph and according to the map it takes 1 hour and 50 minutes to travel 42 miles and it does! Unless it takes longer because a buffalo has decided to walk down the middle of the road!

The ranger walk, Lupine Loop Walk, was a 3 mile hike and took about 3 hours. As we walked up hills through beautiful fields and valleys, the ranger took the time to talk about the characteristics, habits, and differences between black bears and grizzly bears.

Grizzly bears--originated from the Russian brown bear; weighs between 325 and 600 pounds; eats pine nuts, seeds, and elk/pronghorn/deer/calves. In the spring they eat the carcasses of the buffalo that have died around the springs and geysers; are found in more open meadows where they can dig for roots, tubers, and rodents and their stashes.

Black bears--are native to North America; weighs between 135 and 315 pounds; diet is similar to grizzlies except for the roots/tubers which blacks do not have the claws suited for digging these; found more often in a timber area looking for pine nuts and using the timber for protection.

As we finished the walk along the upper Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River, a grizzly appeared at the edge of the meadow we were approaching! The ranger made us keep a "safe" distance as he called in to report its location. According to park literature, if attacked by the bears, you should lie flat on your stomach and cover your neck with hands! We followed the grizzly for a short time and got pictures I'll show in a "wildlife" entry!
(In the summer after our return home, in two separate attacks, two people were killed in this area by bears.)
On a ranger walk in the Canyon area

A black bear claw

A grizzly bear claw

A tree log after a bear has had his dinner!

A nice mountain view