Welcome to May everyone…or using our standard measurement for time .. a mere 5 months before the annual Haunted Trail event. Time is closing in on us in the haunt department. Fortunately, after this weekend’s agility dog show in Wisconsin we will be home for a good period of time that I can devote to all things that go bump in the night. In the midst of that, I also need to hit the ankle rehab hard(er) if I’m going to be ready to race a couple of weeks after that event. Going to be a busy summer. Having subjected you to a rather drab member of the birding world in my last post, I was searching for something to spice it up a bit. Took a scan through Brad’s queue and he had the perfect “NAB” to feature. Identify the person who is slowest in your group and let Brad take you on a northwestern adventure.
Take it away Brad…
Late last summer, Jan and I were on a great Alaskan Adventure. Our 17-day tour involved several days on land, and then several more days on a very large cruise ship (more stability = less queasiness for Brad). We booked every possible excursion available so we could see as much of the Alaskan wilderness as possible. I also felt pressure from Intrigued HQ to book some birding adventures. One of our trips was a guided Wildlife Tour at Icy Strait Point near Hoonah, Alaska. We did see birds, but they weren’t the highlight of this excursion.
After disembarking from the cruise ship and walking through the gift shops, we arrived where the tour would start. Thankfully, Jan and I were not there during peak season. It seemed the vast majority of the passengers from the two cruise ships docked there were headed to either the zip-lines, gift shops, or the bars (as if the cruise boats ran out). Our tour was designed for up to 18 people, but only 8 signed up for the trip. We’ve learned from the past that fewer people in tour groups usually means we can make more tour stops, or spend more time in the various places on the tour.
Once we were checked at the tour office, the group climbed into the mini-bus, and our guide, Amy, started the tour. Amy told the group that she grew up on the island, fifth generation in fact, and was a wealth of knowledge for being as young as she was. After making a stop to see eagles (link to Under Construction) she took us to a remote location on the Island.
After we all got out of the minibus at the next stop, Amy gave a stern safety briefing. She said that are usually bears in the area, but that human noises keep them away for the most part. Amy also requested we stay behind her because she didn’t want to have to deter a bear with tourists in the way. I didn’t fully comprehend what she was telling us until later in the tour.
We walked a few hundred yards along a two-track gravel road into the wilderness. Amy was pointing our various flora and fauna and telling us stories all along the way. Now, I wish I had recorded those stories to help write these stories. After about 15 minutes, we came to a small bridge across a creek.
As we say at Intrigued … “It’s a Furry NAB” (Not a Bird). Hit the jump to learn more about this Alaskan creature.
Actually, the flowing water was a bit larger than a creek but not quite a river. The water was almost deep enough for the dozens of salmon to try to swim upstream. There were already a few people on the one-lane bridge and they were all pointing upstream and acting skittish. Their multi-lingual tour guide was explaining to them what they were seeing, then repeating in English for others in their tour.
Our guide Amy held us up for a minute before letting us wander onto the middle of the bridge. She reminded us about the safety briefing and told this encounter was the reason. Amy didn’t have a concerned look on her face, but she wasn’t quite as carefree as when she picked us up. I quickly learned why.
This is a Brown Bear (Ursus arctos), a +1 in the Large Furry Animal category at Wildlife Intrigued. Jan and I have seen and photographed other bears; some a bit too close for comfort (link here). On this Alaska trip alone, we saw Black Bears (Ursus americanus), Grizzly Bears (Ursus arctos horribilis), and now Brown Bears. This bear was 50 yards upstream; only 3-4 seconds away if it wanted to run through the water. It was also elbow deep in a salmon buffet so it mostly ignored us. August was time for the annual salmon run and every bear in the area knew it. The best strategy was to simply park yourself near the shallows and eat to your hearts content. And no, that’s not the bear’s tongue sticking out of its mouth. Sometimes Nature can be, well, unkind. I’ve filtered the most gruesome photos from the story and gallery. But I included just enough in to help tell the story.
Jan and I began snapping as many photos as we could. From time to time the bear would look in our direction and sniff the wind. Then it would reach into the creek for a new salmon snack. Today’s bear had parked itself near a small pool where the salmon would bunch up before the next set of rapids around the bend.
After a few minutes of excitement, I turned to ask Amy a question. It was then that I noticed the leather harness/vest she was wearing had all manner of safety gear: bear spray, a small safety kit, a whistle, a satellite phone, hollow-point bullets, and a .45 caliber hand-canon, or pistol. Amy was loaded for bear, so to speak. Once things calmed a bit and we moved along the trail, she explained why she carried the gear she did. Amy told us that she lived in the area, a bit further down the path. Her family would encounter moose and brown bears on a semi-regular basis. Amy said she preferred seeing the bears because you can learn to read the intent from their faces and make an educated guess if they are going to charge or not. She had never had to use the pistol to deter a bear because they are usually more interested in salmon and berries than humans.
Moose on the other hand have eyes that can look in different directions, independent of each other, so you never really know where they are looking or what they are thinking. The best thing for deterring a moose in the area is to make a bunch of noise. If that causes them to pay attention to you, step behind a large tree and they loose sight of you and forget very quickly. I guess moose struggle with object permanence: out of sight, out of mind. If a moose does charge, stay behind and between two fair-sized closely spaced trees because they can’t get their large antlers between the trees.
I did a quick assessment of the other tour guides on the bridge. None were as prepared with safety equipment, and none were as well conditioned as Amy. Neither were the tourists. I remembered the old punchline, “I don’t have to outrun the bear, I just have to outrun the other tourists.” The National Park Services has some words of wisdom if you think you might encounter bears:
- Hike in groups . . . bears like options
- If you come across a bear, never push down a slower friend . . . even if you feel the friendship may have run its course (Note from Bri here, Intrigued Management required Code of Conduct training clearly states ALL survival options are “on” the table ha!)
Who doesn’t like an after-snack dip in the refreshing waters of Alaska? Seeing the fuzzy ears makes them look very cute, but please do NOT be fooled. This is precisely why so many tourists are roughed up by wildlife each year; they think bears, and bison, are giant mobile stuffed animals just waiting for a selfie.
An adult salmon can be between 3 and 5 feet long. Using that as a yardstick, you can see how tall this Brown Bear must have been in comparison to the salmon in its mouth. I’m guessing it was 4 feet at the shoulder.
Remember when I said small groups were better? Normally, a full tour would turn around at the bridge and drive back to the dock. Amy asked if we were up to a walking a bit further. After 20 more minutes of walking and stories, we came to a clearing. Amy announced this was her family farm. “Most tours don’t get to go this far down the road,” she told us. We felt privileged.
One the walk back to the mini-bus, someone asked Amy how often she saw grizzlies on the island. Amy answered never, because grizzlies didn’t live on her island; only brown bear lived on the island. Then she helped us with the distinction.
All grizzlies are brown bears. But not all brown bears are grizzlies. I learned that grizzly bears are a sub-species of brown bears. Brown bears live in coastal areas of Alaska, while grizzly bears live much further inland with no access to marine-based food (e.g. no salmon). Both have a distinctive shoulder hump. Brown bears are physically larger than grizzlies. While grizzly bears and black bears are capable of swimming distances, none seem to have made the multi-mile swim to this island. Brown bears are also capable swimmers, and so far, they are the only bears on the island.
Even as much our featured Brown Bear was seen eating during our tour, it still had a very long way to go if it ever wanted to be considered as a contender for the local Fat Bear Week.
Thank you for reading. If you want to see more Brown Bear photos, please visit here.
Credits:
Thanks again to Jan for proofreading and editing. Thanks to Jan for some of the photos in this article.
Life Intrigued 