Bear!

[Weekend_Climberz]

I think it'd be cool to have grizzlies around here, but I'm still curious/skeptical about where the "about 10" or "5-20" number comes from. Are there enough Grizzlies who live in Washington for their population to be sufficient for breeding and genetic health, yet no evidence for one has been found in 12 years?

 

I think these castings they took in 2003 are evidence of recent activity a few miles east of the Grizzy Bear Recovery Zone. Where'd you get the 12 years from?

 

 

 

 

Those definately are Class 1 sightings.

 

It also appears that they are actively updateing their website with other sightings, too.

[olyclimber]

that is no bear. that is sam-sqanch

[Weekend_Climberz]

Hehehe, crashed there site now that everyone is checking out the bears!

[sobo]

PS, Sobo,

 

Jeff said you know how to poop really well and then bag it. True?

Does a bear shit in the woods?

[Rad]

Not trying to jump on your case Rad, but why is it that nobody ever sees a 'small' bear? Seriously, other than seeing a cub, whenever anyone tells you they see a bear, it is always a 'big' one. This was pointed out to me by a long-time Stehekin resident who had listened to hundreds of visitors talk about the 'very big' bear they had seen that day....

Blake,

I appreciate your skepticism. Bears are the largest animals most people see in the wild, and the experience and bear size, like a fish tale, often grow over time. Elk are probably more dangerous than bears, particularly in rutting season, but they don't have a fearsome reputation for some reason. Anyone have attack data?

 

Over the years I've been lucky to have seen many dozens of black bears (in WA, CA, CO, ME, NH, NJ, MA, AK, Canada) and about 12 grizzlies (in Canada and AK). They are very easy to tell apart from head/face shape and shoulder anatomy, not to mention size.

 

The one at the Far Side was definitely an adult, dark chocolate, black bear that probably weighed about 300 lbs. Cubs are easy to identify, the sub-adults (1-3) I refer to as teenagers, and adults are the others. I don't know how to tell sex unless an adult is with cubs, in which case it's mom. We stared at each other for fifteen seconds or so, which is a long time if you hold your breath and count, so we got a good look.

 

I've had some close encounters with both grizzlies and black bears, and I've always felt privileged to share their space. OK, the camp-rummaging bears were more annoying than exotic. I'm glad I haven't had an encounter as close or scary as Bug's.

 

If you haven't seen it, rent the film Grizzly Man. It is an interesting story and film that is well done in that it lets you draw your own conclusions about the content.

[Weekend_Climberz]

Damn, I have "Into the Wild" coming from Nexflix tomorrow. I'll have to wait and watch that on Sunday night.

[BillA]

Plexus- Where abouts in Colorado? The last confirmed grizzly sighting in the San Juans was in '96. If you saw one after that year and it was in Southern Colorado you should get in touch with Dave Petersen, the guy who wrote "Ghost Grizzlies". I'm sure he'd be interested...

[RideT61]

I've seen lots of bears in the the Cascades but there was only one time when it scared me. Last summer I was kayaking Tumwater Canyon when I noticed a sow with 2 cubs about 10ft away on the shore. Being in a kayak made me feel a little vunerable bacause it would have been tought to get out of the boat and defend myself simultaneously. I quickly paddled to the other side of the river.

[sobo]

Not trying to jump on your case Rad, but why is it that nobody ever sees a 'small' bear? Seriously, other than seeing a cub, whenever anyone tells you they see a bear, it is always a 'big' one. This was pointed out to me by a long-time Stehekin resident who had listened to hundreds of visitors talk about the 'very big' bear they had seen that day....

Blake,

I appreciate your skepticism. Bears are the largest most people see in the wild, and the experience and bear size, like a fish tale, often grows over time. Elk are probably more dangerous than bears, particularly in rutting season, but they don't have a fearsome reputation for some reason.

I have had many bear contacts as well, and will agree with Blake that almost all of them were not very large creatures. My contacts involve somewhat small creatures, around 150 to 200 pounds max, I would guess. The biggest one I ever saw was the one I wrote about in the Wallowas on the previous page. That encounter was very different from my usual contact. I was initially convinced it actually was a grizzly, because I could clearly see her "slant-snout" and shoulder hump. On our way out of town, we stopped by the County Courthouse to ask about the presence of such beasts in Wallowa County. The County Sheriff told us that they had all been hunted out about 10 years earlier (ca. 1980). We told him in detail what we had seen, and he began to sound convinced (or maybe was just humoring us city-slickers). He then led us down the hallway of the courthouse and pointed out the mounted critters (of which there were many) lining the hallways and in display cases of the courthouse. They had a really fucking huge grizzly (it was indeed a grizzly) stuffed and mounted in there, and more than one big-ass cougar, elk, etc. The sheriff told us that the grizzly had been shot only about 12 or so years earlier, and the county residents believed it was the last one. Our story gave him pause...

 

If indeed it was a griz back then in 1990, it was a damn fer piece south of its range...

[Bug]

Griz can travel 50 mile in an casual day.

[ivan]

my favorite bear was the one i DIDN'T see while wallowing through a vertical brush tunnel somewhere on the flanks of mt index while desperately trying to get the fuck down - i was forced to climb back up a little cliflet, searchign vainly for a decent place to rap - the only place i could get any traction in the vertigiounous jungle maze was in this odd tunnel, complete w/ claw marks and a gigantic goddamn blueberry-studded bear turd - i followed it very warily up to a ridge, convinced that at any moment this most monstrous of descent debacles was going to end w/ my death - i was very happy when i could finally rap out of the area and i still have no idea how the hell a bear managed to get there.

[ZONK]

Many over the years

Last year early October below Tumwater Tower along the river in the sand with a big O fish in the mouth. Man I turned around fast

because that Bear look Hungry and I was alone.

Had a Big one rip into our cabin on Tunk Mtn a few years back, Ripped off the door to get inside and enjoy left over pancakes.

The Game Dept for years have said no Grizzles in Washington untill last Year. There are knowen ones in the far North East corner of the State. And a Few have been seen north of Winthrop the last few years, or so a Warden friend tells Me.

 

[Blake]

I think it'd be cool to have grizzlies around here, but I'm still curious/skeptical about where the "about 10" or "5-20" number comes from. Are there enough Grizzlies who live in Washington for their population to be sufficient for breeding and genetic health, yet no evidence for one has been found in 12 years?

 

I think these castings they took in 2003 are evidence of recent activity a few miles east of the Grizzy Bear Recovery Zone. Where'd you get the 12 years from?

 

 

From the dang 'BearInfo' Site we are all looking at!

 

 

http://www.bearinfo.org/observations.htm

Glacier Peak, 1996

 

In 1996, a bear biologist saw a grizzly bear on the south side of Glacier Peak in the Glacier Peak Wilderness Area. This is the last recorded Class 1 observation.

 

Those tracks in the mud were in field a few miles south of Canada and between Oroville and Colville, miles from the designated NoCa Recovery Zone.

[archenemy]

Not trying to jump on your case Rad, but why is it that nobody ever sees a 'small' bear? Seriously, other than seeing a cub, whenever anyone tells you they see a bear, it is always a 'big' one. This was pointed out to me by a long-time Stehekin resident who had listened to hundreds of visitors talk about the 'very big' bear they had seen that day....

Blake,

I appreciate your skepticism. Bears are the largest animals most people see in the wild, and the experience and bear size, like a fish tale, often grow over time. Elk are probably more dangerous than bears, particularly in rutting season, but they don't have a fearsome reputation for some reason. Anyone have attack data?

 

Over the years I've been lucky to have seen many dozens of black bears (in WA, CA, CO, ME, NH, NJ, MA, AK, Canada) and about 12 grizzlies (in Canada and AK). They are very easy to tell apart from head/face shape and shoulder anatomy, not to mention size.

 

The one at the Far Side was definitely an adult, dark chocolate, black bear that probably weighed about 300 lbs. Cubs are easy to identify, the sub-adults (1-3) I refer to as teenagers, and adults are the others. I don't know how to tell sex unless an adult is with cubs, in which case it's mom. We stared at each other for fifteen seconds or so, which is a long time if you hold your breath and count, so we got a good look.

 

I've had some close encounters with both grizzlies and black bears, and I've always felt privileged to share their space. OK, the camp-rummaging bears were more annoying than exotic. I'm glad I haven't had an encounter as close or scary as Bug's.

 

If you haven't seen it, rent the film Grizzly Man. It is an interesting story and film that is well done in that it lets you draw your own conclusions about the content.

Sorry to get off track here, but I saw a moose back home once while out on a hike. Got between her and her baby. My buddy yanked me into a little stand of three trees after the moose mama gave me the hairy eyeball. I could kiss my buddy for thinking straight and helping me. If alone, I would have simply stood there and pooped. Those animals are big. Not as big as bears, but big enough to make your sphincter act all funny.

[Rad]

Actually, most moose are bigger than most bears.

 

"The moose can grow to be over 3 metres (10 ft.) in length and a shoulder height of over 2 metres (6+ft.). Males can weigh 600 kg. (over 1300 pounds)."

 

Only polar bears or the largest grizzlies could come close.

[sobo]

Moose (meese??) are huge fuckin' critterz. I mean crazy huge! And I thought elk were big...

[minx]

blake -

the stats they sited were from older sources. they have more recent numbers but probably not compiled in an "official" document to site.

 

my friend works for that project. its not like its some big giant conspiracy

 

[Weekend_Climberz]

I think it'd be cool to have grizzlies around here, but I'm still curious/skeptical about where the "about 10" or "5-20" number comes from. Are there enough Grizzlies who live in Washington for their population to be sufficient for breeding and genetic health, yet no evidence for one has been found in 12 years?

 

I think these castings they took in 2003 are evidence of recent activity a few miles east of the Grizzy Bear Recovery Zone. Where'd you get the 12 years from?

 

 

From the dang 'BearInfo' Site we are all looking at!

 

 

http://www.bearinfo.org/observations.htm

Glacier Peak, 1996

 

In 1996, a bear biologist saw a grizzly bear on the south side of Glacier Peak in the Glacier Peak Wilderness Area. This is the last recorded Class 1 observation.

 

Those tracks in the mud were in field a few miles south of Canada and between Oroville and Colville, miles from the designated NoCa Recovery Zone.

 

Actually 25 miles, and well within a days walk for a bear that large. Also, I was using my deductive skills and reasoning ability to find that the Class 1 definition is:

Class 1 (confirmed) reliability rating indicated a grizzly bear observation confirmed by a biologist and/or by photograph, carcass, track, hair, dig, or food cache. Grizzly bear sign required verification by a grizzly bear biologist. Tracks were documented by photograph and/or plaster cast and met grizzly bear front foot toe alignment criteria using the Palmisciano Line Method. If tracks were not of sufficient quality to allow the use of the Palmisciano Line Method, they were rated with a lower reliability. Hair samples were guard hairs identified by microscopic examination of basal and shaft scale patters in combination with shaft shield and shaft tip coloration. If structural characteristics of the hair could not be differentiated, the rating was lowered. Digs and food caches required verification by a grizzly bear biologist.

 

Seems to meet the definiton to me, along with the video of the obivous grizzly the Canukistanians took. Though that was a bit north and east, but still well within the roaming range of these guys. Not trying to argue, but seems like a Class 1 to me. Any biologists on here wanna make it official for us?

[canyondweller]

Having bears stroll through campsites was de rigeur in the Adirondack Park, back in the 80's. They'd get so smart, we would have to camouflage/hide our canned goods because they'd chew them open. Fish & Game ended up shooting a 400# sow who was getting a little too bold.

[ams]

All these years of backpacking and climbing and I have never run into a bear in the wild, only seen tracks or scat. However, I used to live in Sammamish (30 min. E. of Seattle), and saw black bears many times while I lived there. Ahh, the joys of wilderness encroachment . . . The property I lived at had an old apple orchard in the back that was frequented regularly while in season. There were also problems with them visiting the local elementary schools. I've seen them off of Hwy 202, near Duthie Hill Rd. Wierd that I see them more in the 'burbs than the mountains.

 

There used to be a gal that worked at VW Seattle that saw a cougar up by the river at X38 about 8 or 9 years ago . . .

[canyondweller]

Common knowledge is that there's pretty good bear hunting in the Money Creek area off Hwy 2.

 

There used to be a gal that worked at VW Seattle that saw a cougar up by the river at X38 about 8 or 9 years ago . . .

 

Spotted a cougar mountainbiking on Tiger Mtn. a couple years ago.

[minx]

there are definitely cougar near e38. i saw one fairly near there, closer to e34 one morning. that's not the first e38 sighting i've heard of.

[matt_warfield]

Camp 4 in Yosemite has all kinds of problems, as many of you know. Basically, if there is any food in the car, they will break in. Of course they are not griz but that doesn't matter when you lose your window and food.

 

I grew up in Montana and saw plenty from afar. My close up was a mother and cub on a trail. The cub went up a tree and the mother ran up the hill and we hiked right through. Maybe she was low on the motherhood scale...

 

I also visited Kodiak AK once and the airport terminal has a large (like 10 ft.) stuffed Kodiak grizzly in the middle of the lobby. And 30 ft. off main street in town there are claw marks. We hiked with full senses on (and bear spray) but were told that the mainland AK griz are much more dangerous than the Kodiaks.

[Bug]

Up in Little Yosemite Valley, two friends and I squatted outside the regular camps. We hung our food up in a tree. Yogi and BooBoo fought over it all eveningt and one of them finally fell out of the tree, broke a branch, and got to our food. Then there was a feeding frenzy as they and two other bears fought and rustled around for it. They spent the rest of the night circling our camp growling at each other.

[canyondweller]

Then there was a feeding frenzy as they and two other bears fought and rustled around for it. They spent the rest of the night circling our camp growling at each other.

 

Been there, done that. Makes you realize exactly how thin that nylon tent is, doesn't it?