Lake St. Mary Sunrise
Intending to return to this spot this morning, I startled a grizzly bear about 40 feet in front of me. He bolted way at high speed, crashing through brush as he went. Standing still and making noise for a while, figuring that he had probably wandered off after the encounter, I suddenly noticed him staring at me looking very agitated, in about the same point that he had bolted from! This highly aggressive bahavior is in sharp contrast with what I've observed from black bears (even our bears in California are relatively laid back). The grizzly was clearly pissed off, making a loud huffing noise and made lunges into the bush in front of him, clawing at it with his giant paws. He probably thought as I moved downhill swiftly towards him that I was charging him, and although his "fight or flight" instinct initially told him to run, he had clearly chosen to come back for some "fight" once I started making noise and he figured out what I was.
I figured the bear could close the distance between us in 3 seconds or less. I could either retreat inmmediately or turn on my camera on (unfortunately with a wide angle lens on), get it out of 10 second timer mode, and capture a few frames (possibly the last of my life). Choices are rarely so easy. I assured the bear that yes, it was his huckleberry bush, backing up. I don't remember actually getting back up the hill, but I know that I was careful not to run, and an instant later I was most of the way back up. I warned the half dozen photographers at the top of the hill that they had an agitated bear 50 yards downhill.
When I reachded the Locan Pass ranger station I filed a bear encounter report. Several rangers told me over the next 24 hours that I was very lucky not to get attacked. I read a book "Bear Attacks" the following morning and the huffing noise is the second most common thing grizzlies do right before they attack. Growling is reported by slightly more survivors of grizzly attacks. Loud vocal noises by people are interpreted as highly aggressive behavior and can trigger an attack. My yelling up to the other photographers at the top of the hill to warn them about the bear and my whistling loudly may have been what brought him back (interpreted as a challenge). If I had happened upon a female and cubs (like the ones I saw this morning), there's a high probability that I would have been instantly charged and the females are much less likely to end a charge as a "bluff" attack.
Always wear bear bells in grizzly country!
Lake St. Mary Sunrise
Intending to return to this spot this morning, I startled a grizzly bear about 40 feet in front of me. He bolted way at high speed, crashing through brush as he went. Standing still and making noise for a while, figuring that he had probably wandered off after the encounter, I suddenly noticed him staring at me looking very agitated, in about the same point that he had bolted from! This highly aggressive bahavior is in sharp contrast with what I've observed from black bears (even our bears in California are relatively laid back). The grizzly was clearly pissed off, making a loud huffing noise and made lunges into the bush in front of him, clawing at it with his giant paws. He probably thought as I moved downhill swiftly towards him that I was charging him, and although his "fight or flight" instinct initially told him to run, he had clearly chosen to come back for some "fight" once I started making noise and he figured out what I was.
I figured the bear could close the distance between us in 3 seconds or less. I could either retreat inmmediately or turn on my camera on (unfortunately with a wide angle lens on), get it out of 10 second timer mode, and capture a few frames (possibly the last of my life). Choices are rarely so easy. I assured the bear that yes, it was his huckleberry bush, backing up. I don't remember actually getting back up the hill, but I know that I was careful not to run, and an instant later I was most of the way back up. I warned the half dozen photographers at the top of the hill that they had an agitated bear 50 yards downhill.
When I reachded the Locan Pass ranger station I filed a bear encounter report. Several rangers told me over the next 24 hours that I was very lucky not to get attacked. I read a book "Bear Attacks" the following morning and the huffing noise is the second most common thing grizzlies do right before they attack. Growling is reported by slightly more survivors of grizzly attacks. Loud vocal noises by people are interpreted as highly aggressive behavior and can trigger an attack. My yelling up to the other photographers at the top of the hill to warn them about the bear and my whistling loudly may have been what brought him back (interpreted as a challenge). If I had happened upon a female and cubs (like the ones I saw this morning), there's a high probability that I would have been instantly charged and the females are much less likely to end a charge as a "bluff" attack.
Always wear bear bells in grizzly country!