More Bears in Yellowstone

Three Grizzlies...2 yearlings and a larger male

One last trip to the Park today to watch the critters.  As luck would have it ALL the bison from Saturday had vanished... except for one.  It was actually deceased, but it had A LOT of company.  

We're thinking it was one of the injured bison we watched on Saturday.  Specifically we think that this is the female who had great difficulty moving and spent a good deal of time laying down.  The other bison is still close by and is still not moving well.  The Rangers 'claim' that bison are "tough and some recover from leg injuries"...some do not.

How about 4 bears visiting while we were watching... later we found out the number had climbed to NINE bears at various times during the afternoon.

Large and In-Charge Male Grizzly

It was quite interesting watching the interaction of these bears.  The Ranger said that 'bears do not share food'... unless they are siblings or cubs.  

It appeared that 2 smaller bears were yearling siblings and their mother were all together at various parts of the day.  
 

Uh Oh...

RUN!!

None of these three challenged each other for access to the carcass.  That was not the case when the really large black grizzly bear showed up.  Everyone stayed away from him  including the sow.  The larger male would give chase if any of the other bears strayed too near the carcass.  No outright fights broke out while we watched the action, but lots of posturing and chasing.
 

Of course we have changed our travel plans due to this discovery.  Rather than break camp on Tuesday we're heading back bright and early to watch the carcass.  It is our second one of the season and we never thought we'd get another chance to observe bears, wolves or whatever else may appear so we are taking advantage of this discovery. 

The 2 young bears share the carcass

On the look out for trouble

Here comes Trouble...with a capital T

The young give it up

Here comes Mom to the rescue...not

Make no eye contact...ever

Is he still there?

 

 

 

 

A new fashion accessory

 

Really large one

 **As always click the pictures to enlarge...trust us you want to see these guys larger!**