Bear Postcard

Okay, I hear you. You want to see more bears, so here's some images of black bears.

Most of the time I am happy to see bears like this:

Yes, just a little black dot way far away. Black bears are the real deal; unpredictable, large, fast, extremely strong animals. The history of humans and bears in close proximity is lose-lose.

They are fun to watch, though, and occasionally I get to see them just being bears.

This young bear is chowing down on grass on a very rainy day.

Scruffy yearling black bear using a log bridge to cross a creek.

A blurry drive-by of another Mom Bear deciding whether to send the kids up the tree, or take off. She told the cubs to follow her, and they all went down the slope.

Fishermen threw the fish heads and guts into the water and then the tide went out and left those yummy treats on the beach. The bears and eagles came in at dusk to clean up after the people.

The bear below came out of the woods nearby while I was sitting on the beach. It was too close for comfort for either of us. I said, "Bear, there are humans here," in a normal voice, and the bear turned and went back into the woods. No guarantees that those words will ever work again.

Then a bear (below) stepped out on the other side a few minutes later. There were six people on the beach, and we gathered up into a group and walked up the trail together to get back to our vehicles.

Another evening beach-bear.

Have a bear-y nice day!

Alaska Beachcomber

More bears: Bear Viewing at Dog Salmon Creek

And lots of animals in the Alaskan Critters index.