A Berry Hungry Bear

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Grizzly bear... When we hear this, most of us imagine a huge, fearsome predator roaming the land of, say, Alaska, killing and eating whatever it finds. Right? Sometimes. But often wrong.

Grizzlies, as well as their close cousins the Brown bears, are large and heavy animals who can weigh up to 1,000 pounds. They have sharp teeth and sharp nails.  And in Alaska, they hibernate during the winter, which means that they have about three to four months in the year to eat and stack up on calories. Yes, bears are predators. But the Alaska bears' meat diet consists primarily of fish. In interior Alaska, where many rivers are filled with glacial dust and have no fish in them, the Grizzlies have evolved over the years from being carnivores (meet eating) to also dine on roots, leaves, flowers, and especially berries.  That's the reason why a Grizzly has a hump - these are huge shoulder muscles adapted for digging out roots..

Like most health conscious consumers, the Grizzly bears of Denali national park in Alaska LOVE organic berries. Berries are nutritious, with lots of vitamins and minerals, and even some calories! So it's common to see a Grizzly working its way through a large field of berries, eating everything  in sight - berries, leaves, flowers, you name it. An adult bear can work through half an acre of land per day, consuming as many calories as possible to use during the winter time. (Yes - it's called fat)

Can you feed a Grizzly? Sure. Here I am, getting ready to feed one with some blueberries, custom-hand picked especially for that precious bear:

Problem is, you may want to not do that, because the bear might eat not only the berries but also your hand. 

And arm. 

And your whole body.

So do the Grizzlies of Denali hunt for prey, as well? Well, it's hard for a Grizzly to chase a caribou or a moose. These animals are too fast and have enough endurance to escape from a bear.  Now don't get me wrong - a Grizzly can accelerate to 35mph (50kph) extremely fast, so you don't  want it to come after you. We all know the pretty chewed-on joke about the two hikers in bear country, where one asks the other "so what do we do if we see a Grizzly?" "We run" says the other guy. "Run?" Asks the first guy. "You can't outrun a Grizzly bear, can you?" "No, but I can outrun you!" says the  smart**s friend.

Ha ha. Funny, right? Especially if you're the faster guy.  


So the Grizzly will often let others do its work. For example, it will watch a pack of wolves kill a caribou, then come out and kick the hell out of them to dine on the dead animal. After all, as healthy as those berries are, nothing beats the thousands of calories in a good piece of caribou!

Except for fish, of-course.

Closer to the ocean, for example on the Kenai Peninsula or on Kodiak Island, where lots of rivers have Salmon in them during the summer, the Brown bears and Grizzlies have a diet comprised primarily of fish. After all, a single Salmon may contain up to 5,000 calories! And you don't even have to run 35mph to catch them.  All you have to do (if you're a bear, that is) is stand at the top of a waterfall and wait for the fish to jump up it on their way to the source of the river, with your mouth wide open...

And do this 12 hours a day, for several weeks, for a total of hundreds of first-grade Salmon..

Read more about the poor Salmon in my post The Brown Bears of Katmai

Alaska - The Heat Is On

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Summer is finally here and with it - My upcoming trip to Alaska! I'm getting very excited, of course, and to wet my appetite even more I keep looking at photos from past trips to that wonderful, huge state.

What does Alaska not have? (other than warm, Florida-like winters!) It has huge rivers, glaciers, amazing vistas and lots of wildlife. Take a look at this bird - 

Yes, it's a Bald Eagle! The one everyone knows from the US postal stamps, (hmm - you're not only using email, do you?) with a white head and dark body! The Bald Eagle only gets its familiar look at about two years old. I guess till then it needs to not be so bold, and be able to mesh into the environment without being spotted by other preying birds.

But no need to look up all the time. All it takes is a short hike to remind you that you're merely a guest in this state, and that it belongs to animals who assume the right of way wherever they walk:

(Remember not to ever step between a mother and a cub of any kind - moose but also a bear.)

Hiking is very popular in Alaska. Yes, you might run into the occasional grizzly or brown bear, but what's that compared to you ability to show yourself smiling in the middle of nowhere?!?

(This photo was taken by my son who at thirteen learned that there's life beyond the TV room.) 

And while walking, you can watch unending fields of flowers and imagine your own backyard looking like this:

Sometimes, though, you need to hop on a taxi to get to your destination in Alaska, and it ain't even a yellow one!

The advantage is, of course, you get to see a bear taking a nap.

Or - even better - busy at work. Watch the following video:

 

Until then - Adieu!

Read my post Alaska Summer Vacation for Ordinary People  to learn more about Alaska.

Canoe Season Starting on Bowron Lakes!

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While it's a bit too early to paddle up in the Arctic, British Columbia's Bowron Lakes Canoe Circuit offers a great opportunity to experience spring and summer. Situated in the middle of the province, below Caribou Mountains, Bowron Lakes is one of the most known canoe circuits in north America. The beauty of a circuit is that you can set on your canoe, and make an entire loop, returning to where you started. How is it possible? Well - British Columbia is known for all rivers going downstream, all the time!

Kidding. The trick of course is to schlepp your canoe on occasion up hill, getting to the next downstream- flowing river or lake. We professionals call it portage, but it really means "Isn't the canoe supposed to carry me instead of the other way around?"

  

But, that's a small price to pay for the beauty of the trip, which usually take from 4-9 days in a complete circle:

Canoeing is nice because there's plenty of space for all your belongings, including the dog. But enough about that. Let's see some pics:

There's also of course lots of wildlife, especially moose and many birds, but also the occasional brown bear and fox. Moose loves water!

There are also many opportunities to be artistic and take nice pictures.

 

There are a few tour operators running canoe trips at Bowron. I recommend Pathways , a great company with wonderful guides and lots of experience.

Read my post Hike Through History on Ellesemere Island for additional fun in the Arctic!