Confirmed Grizzly bear sightening in NOCA

[Dan_Miller]

This link from today's Seattle Times.

 

Seattle Times NOCA Grizzly bear article.

 

This is extremely cool to my way of thinking!

 

Perhaps it's time to get a 'Bear Bell' concession going in the Park.

 

[RaisedByPikas]

I wonder if it was the same bear I saw in the area last fall on the sahale arm. I assumed it was a black bear but looking again it does have a shoulder hump.

 

Edited July 1, 2011 by RaisedByPikas

[BillA]

Awesome!!

[Moonshiner]

Ditto! Awesome!

[JasonG]

I hope they don't start requiring bear canisters. Climbing gear is awkward enough . . .

[Buckshot]

Wilderness just got a little more wild. As it ought to be.

[Tyson.g]

I will find and eliminate that menace before it destroys America!

[hanman]

Tyson- 1st you have some work along those lines at Squire Creek. The looming bear menace is significant indeed.

 

MH

[ScaredSilly]

I wonder if it was the same bear I saw in the area last fall on the sahale arm. I assumed it was a black bear but looking again it does have a shoulder hump.

 

You should contact WDFW and send them your picture. It might be very helpful if can be id as a griz. Which is does look like.

[billcoe]

You should contact WDFW and send them your picture. It might be very helpful if can be id as a griz. Which is does look like.

Yes, send the picture. Then the entire area of the North Cascades should be immediately closed off to human activity so that the endangered bears can recover. Estimating 7-10 - years or so....then later, closed off to climbers and hikers only during birthing season: which is spring to fall. However, since there is resource constraints and hiring freezes due to financial issues, may I suggest that all climbers should have to purchase a card to allow them access to the outdoors so that we can hire more Washington Dept of Fish and Wildlife folks to ticket those who violate the ban on entry into the North Cascades and other wilderness areas where the endangered bear is struggling to recover and thus pay for the recovery that way?

 

 

OK, I'm kidding....but watch this happen.

[Skeezix]

Don't use your food bag for a pillow in your tent.

[Billygoat]

A bunch of us saw one below J-Berg about 5 years ago, but the Rangers in Marblemount said it was impossible.

[Frankazoid]

love it!

[Buckaroo]

I saw one also in 2008, on the SE side of J-Berg, about 100 yds away, luckily I was down wind from him. I already had my bivy laid out. I grabbed everything and hi-tailed it up to the col.

 

I've been carrying road flares. It's what the Russian do because there's hella bears in Russia. A bear's primary sense is smell and the flare smoke inundates their olfactory making them effectively "blind" and they run. They also have an instinctual fear of fire. Plus it doesn't piss them off like bear spray does, and it's much more economical.

[Dane]

I wonder if it was the same bear I saw in the area last fall

 

Agreed, looks like a grizzley to me. Well done with the picture !

[sdizzle25]

In Idaho we use grizzly pelts for toilet paper. Could be interesting if an actual population gets going in such a crowded area!

[111]

Most EXCELLENT!!!

[RaisedByPikas]

I've gotten a few PM's from NCNP rangers asking about the bear in my picture so I'll just post the response from the NCNP bear biologist:

 

Hello Bill,

 

This looks like a black bear to me. The size, structure and shape of the

head are highly suggestive of a black bear, as are the ears. This looks

like a large(!) male, probably middle-aged (15????), based on the

separation of the ears; they tend to get wider apart as they get older.

When black bears get very large like this (he's ready for a good winter in

the den, where he won't eat or drink for several months) -- they can get

the appearance of having a shoulder hump. Also, the position of the head

and the camera angle (angle of observation) can increase that appearance.

It did make me blow the photo up to 400% though (good thing for

high-resolution) -- just to be sure.

[Tony_Bentley]

Interesting. I was up there about 4 years ago and an old man who lives on CRR (and has for 50 years) said he spotted a grizzly cub about 4 miles from the parking lot. I was skeptical but now it's confirmed that he did indeed see a griz and not a black bear. Awesome!

[kurthicks]

Word on the street (from NOCA in Marblemount) is that the NPS is going to require bear canisters starting soon in the Cascade Pass/Boston Basin area and perhaps elsewhere.

[Wastral]

Saw 2 grizzles on the north side of miners ridge 8 years ago gorging themselves on huckleberries. Same day nearly had a black bear run me down as it was loping down miners ridge to the next huckleberry patch. Needless to say, we both SWERVED aside quite quickly. Not afraid of bears. Just moron humans. Plenty of those around FAR closer to home.

[RaisedByPikas]

Word on the street (from NOCA in Marblemount) is that the NPS is going to require bear canisters starting soon in the Cascade Pass/Boston Basin area and perhaps elsewhere.

 

I guess we need to stop reporting bear sightings and clean up any bear scat/paw prints we find.

[xhen]

Word on the street (from NOCA in Marblemount) is that the NPS is going to require bear canisters starting soon in the Cascade Pass/Boston Basin area and perhaps elsewhere.

 

I guess we need to stop reporting bear sightings and clean up any bear scat/paw prints we find.

 

There's a saying in the old country: shoot, shovel, and shut up

[denalidave]

Partial bear sighting on the wind farm I'm working at in NH...

 

Rotting bear skull, YUM!

 

Grab me an eyeball with some chop-sticks and add a bit of soy sauce and wasabe... Black Bear Rotting Eyeball Sashimi. YUM!

 

 

 

 

[num1mc]

Too bad it's a head shot. That would be an ideal starter for a masticated Euro mount