Last week, I was driving
along Skyline Drive just after sundown looking for wildlife. There was still enough light to see tree leaves and such,
but headlights needed to be on for safe driving. I had the front car windows open because the air felt good.
Suddenly, there was something
visible out side my right front passenger window. There, flying alongside my car at a matching 30 miles per hour, was
a great horned owl, creeping closer and closer to the open window as we progressed down the road.
I have an image in my head
now, of that enormous owl turning its head toward me and looking at me as it flew along side. I felt fearful that the
owl would try to enter the car. I imagined the owl, slipping it's left wing inside the car, where there would be no
wind providing lift to match the lift on the right wing, causing it to spiral out of control.
Actually, I made up that
last part about the wing lift later. However, I was worried it would come into my car, where I did not have an approved
owl perch installed. Therefore, I slammed on my brakes. The owl kept going, then swooped up into the trees and
disappeared into the dark tree cover.
So does that mean I am
not a Muggle? Did I have mail?
-- Ranger Bob
For three or four weeks, visitors had been reporting sightings of a mother bear with four cubs
in the Big Meadows Area. All the other visitors, who read that in our sightings book, were excited about it and
wanted to know were they could see the sow with four cute little teddy bear sized cubs. Four cubs is somewhat unusual,
but not impossible. The literature says that a litter of six is rare but possible.
What was unusual about the bruin family was that they stayed in the same area so long. Usually, bears, even mothers
with cubs, travel wider territories and might not be seen in the same location again, ever. These bears were being seen
nearly every day in the general Big Meadows area. They were seeing humans frequently, and as a result were beginning
to lose their natural fear of humans. This is a bad thing.
But I had not seen them yet. Of course, I wanted to see them strictly for professional purposes. I am
a park ranger and need to be knowledgeable about the wild life in the park. I regularly have to tell visitors how to
behave around bear country in order to protect the bears as well as the visitors. So, "cute" had nothing to do with
it.
Then on Sunday, June 18, as Ann and I were sitting on the deck of my quarters, Ann said, "Oh my! Look behind you."
I turned to see a momma bear with a light green ear tag and some number of cubs walking along the edge of the forest,
turning over rocks as bears should. As I stood up to see better, the mother saw me and started walking toward
our porch. That is not what bears are supposed to do. They typically walk away from where there are humans.
So we gathered up our things and went inside. The bears then continued along the forest edge past the back of my
quarters, where Ann was able to take a few photos through the storm door. Then they were gone. My camera
was in the car.
I waited until they were well out of sight and walked out to the car and started to drive the edge of the woods
in the direction they seem to have gone. No luck, so I went down to the meadow to take a stroll. When
I returned, there was a "Bear Jam" with two rangers keeping people from getting to close to either of two bear families in
the area. The family of five was in the woods on one side of the road, and a family of three was on the other side.
I drove back to my quarters, just down the road from there, grabbed my camera and started cautiously walking toward the
main road where all the action was. I like to keep at least a hundred feet between me and a bear, so I walked slowly,
watching intently into the woods for any movement.
All of a sudden, there was a Black Bear with a light green ear tag walking out of the brush right across the road from
me. I snapped off one quick picture and started to back away towards my quarters.
Photo by Bob Kuhns
The mother was followed by three then four cubs across the road. I got far enough away to start taking pictures
again.
Photo by Bob Kuhns
Photo by Bob Kuhns
Photo by Bob Kuhns
Photo by Bob Kuhns
As the sow reached the woods on the same side of the road as I was on, she turned her head toward me, hesitated,
then started walking toward me. I backed up some more... she kept coming. I waved my free hand wide
out and over my head and back a few quick times... and she lead the cubs into the woods.
The next day, we got a report that momma bear had bluff charged some visitors (who were too close any way). But
that behavior, coupled with her insistence in staying in the developed area of Big Meadows, would sooner or later lead to
a human getting hurt. We notified the Wildlife Specialists.
By Thursday evening, she and her four cubs had been captured and relocated to another area of the park, far from developed
areas.
I miss the cute little guys.
