The ferociousness of a mother grizzly defending her cubs is
legendary. On the afternoon of the thirty first
of May we had the opportunity to witness just how determined one grizzly sow
was to keep another female away from her cub.
In previous posts I have mentioned that there are currently three “celebrity”
bears in Grand Teton National Park. One
is 399, who has one cub of the year. One is 610, who has two cubs, born last
year. The third is called Blondie. When Blondie was last seen, just before
hibernation last winter, she had two cubs, both two years old. For unknown reasons Blondie emerged from hibernation without her
cubs which led to her being in estrus this spring.
When we arrived at Pilgrim Creek Road there were already
scores of people on the scene. Cheryl
walked down the road to find out which bear was causing the jam and its
location. She texted that a bear was coming
my way. I quickly found a spot to await developments. I soon saw that Blondie was digging for roots
and insects in a thin stand of willows nearby…
Her next text was that 399 and cub were coming down the hill
in the direction of Blondie. It did not
take long for Blondie to realize that an angry sow, with cub in tow, was
heading her way…
In an instant Blondie was in full speed escape mode as she
rounded the willows heading straight for me and the other onlookers…
For the next several minutes all was pandemonium as 399
pursued Blondie around the meadow while the young cub, called Snowy, struggled
to keep up…
The chase brought both adult bears within yards of the road
where mothers tried to rush their children to safety while the rangers urged
bystanders to remain calm and to not move.
One ranger said to us later that “asking people not to run in such a situation
was like asking them not to breath”…
During the frenzied pursuit of Blondie the cub was forgotten
by 399. Unable to keep up Snowy ducked
into an island of trees to escape the chaos.
When 399 realized that Snowy was nowhere in sight she stopped pursuing
Blondie and began looking for the cub…
It was easy to see that 399 was stressed and anxious about
Snowy…
Fortunately, they reunited a short time later, and were last
seen continuing their dogged pursuit of Blondie…
Thanks for the pics and story
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