A wary Mamma ( Cubby series two)
This is the sequel to the first set of Mamma and Cubby shots I had posted earlier. My apologies for not getting this concluding set posted sooner. We had a bit of family chaos...{it happens 8-)...} but things are calm at the moment.
The lead image was taken shortly after the boar stepped out of the brush at the lower end of the estuary. I have tried to post the photos in order as the action unfolded. The female is well aware of the boars presences and her focus and posture convey her anxiety. It didn't take the cubs long to pick up on their mother's mood, although she had not yet begun vocalizing to them or physically pushing them ahead.
In the second photo the cubs have visual contact with the boar and their agitation has ramped up considerably. It was at this point that the sow began herding the youngsters up stream, putting herself between them and the advancing male. She pushed them for several hundred yards until they finally crossed a second estuary. Here, she had evidently had enough because she suddenly stopped, turned and took a stand on the bank. The male halted on the opposite bank (4th photo) and now both the cubs and the sow were vocalizing.
The boar remained where he was, pacing back and forth huffing and grumbling his displeasure but he did not advance across the water. The female held this position for several minutes..........sending warning signals across the stream until she was comfortable turning her back. Then she ushered her cubs up the opposite bank and turned up a different estuary leaving the male rumbling and fuming on the far bank. {Yes, at least this time ..........a happy ending !! }
*Footnote:
Just an aside bit of info for those of you who are interested. The male grizzly is extremely territorial and will attack and kill cubs, especially male cubs which he views as competition. He does not recognize his own offspring, to him they are interlopers. This forces the female grizzly to be an extremely attentive mamma or her brood will not survive their first spring. The cubs in this series still had the white natal ring visible around their neck which means they were spring born. This was a very protective mamma.
A wary Mamma ( Cubby series two)
This is the sequel to the first set of Mamma and Cubby shots I had posted earlier. My apologies for not getting this concluding set posted sooner. We had a bit of family chaos...{it happens 8-)...} but things are calm at the moment.
The lead image was taken shortly after the boar stepped out of the brush at the lower end of the estuary. I have tried to post the photos in order as the action unfolded. The female is well aware of the boars presences and her focus and posture convey her anxiety. It didn't take the cubs long to pick up on their mother's mood, although she had not yet begun vocalizing to them or physically pushing them ahead.
In the second photo the cubs have visual contact with the boar and their agitation has ramped up considerably. It was at this point that the sow began herding the youngsters up stream, putting herself between them and the advancing male. She pushed them for several hundred yards until they finally crossed a second estuary. Here, she had evidently had enough because she suddenly stopped, turned and took a stand on the bank. The male halted on the opposite bank (4th photo) and now both the cubs and the sow were vocalizing.
The boar remained where he was, pacing back and forth huffing and grumbling his displeasure but he did not advance across the water. The female held this position for several minutes..........sending warning signals across the stream until she was comfortable turning her back. Then she ushered her cubs up the opposite bank and turned up a different estuary leaving the male rumbling and fuming on the far bank. {Yes, at least this time ..........a happy ending !! }
*Footnote:
Just an aside bit of info for those of you who are interested. The male grizzly is extremely territorial and will attack and kill cubs, especially male cubs which he views as competition. He does not recognize his own offspring, to him they are interlopers. This forces the female grizzly to be an extremely attentive mamma or her brood will not survive their first spring. The cubs in this series still had the white natal ring visible around their neck which means they were spring born. This was a very protective mamma.