Spring cub

We're lucky enough to have three generations of cubs in the estuary vicinity this year. This spring cub (sex still undetermined) is growing more and more brazen every day. Weeks ago, it was terrified of its mother when she caught spawning chum in the creek. Now the cub tackles spawned out salmon on its own, investigates other cubs, and occasionally meanders in our direction to get a better idea of what us bipedal creatures are all about. The cub is still, by far, the most vocal bear in the estuary. Whenever a slight amount of stress arises, this cub huffs repeatedly, as its mother stands casually at bay, looking for salmon in the creek or observing an approaching bear.

Keeping a playful eye on the large hominid beasts standing atop the hill near the creek...

Like many cubs, this one's interest is aroused with the close approach of a raven, crow, or gull.


Still displaying signs of timidity, which is understandable for a 7 month old bear. With the heavy pink run, there has been an almost continuous congregation of multiple bears on the creek for several weeks.

A quick playfight with mom after consuming a few roe-filled salmon.

Mom displaying a sufficient amount of tolerance after receiving a bear bite to the nose...

Subadult special

We hadn't seen a ray of sunlight for over three weeks. Clouds, mist, fog, rain, sideways rain, wetness, dampness. Then Christy and Steve arrived, from sunny Montana, and with them came the extended sunshine. The bears enjoyed the warm sunbeams seemingly as much as I did the first several days, but after a few days in the 70 degree heat, we noticed the bears became less and less active by day, opting more for the evening and night time fishing expeditions...

Stealthily scoping the spawning salmon in the smooth, silky stream ahead...

A young subadult male, whom I've loosely called "Beardie," as he's got a surplus of scraggly neck hair. This bear is one of three subadults that sporadically meet in the sedge meadow for extended playfights and wrestling matches. This one, along with two others that are quite possibly his siblings from a litter four or five years ago, meet in the meadow and practice posturing and fighting. They stand on their hind legs and growl at each other, grab each other's heads and shoulders with their front paws, and occasionally bite each other around the neck and ears. The fighting never escalates into a serious altercation; it's a natural process for younger bears to practice the postures, poses, and maneuvers for mating/fishing hole fights they'll get into in their later years.


Beardie walking in the sunshine, considering the immense amount of pink salmon spawning up the creek.

Beardie, responding to a choice salmon splashing in the shallows.

Guess who? The same bear, content with a stomach full of several slightly decayed pink salmon.

Little bears

It never gets old watching bear cubs wrestle with their mothers, with themselves, with clumps of grass, twigs, or dead fish. Although it's appropriate to remain impartial, it's often difficult not to show some amount of affinity toward these goofy little cubs who want to chase the ravens and seagulls or stage a playfight with their mother who outweighs them by four hundred pounds. If I only had a video camera...

A slightly curious, slightly confused cub of the year attempting to determine if we are a good, bad, or benign presence in the landscape.

A two and a half year old cub approaching slightly closer, trying to determine if we'll retreat if he wanders slightly nearer.. Of course we maintained our position, and he eventually realized we weren't afraid of him, nor were we a threat to him. He later went down to the creek and fished with his back to us.

Another two and a half year old cub milling around on the sunny tideflat. A bald eagle and a few dozen Bonaparte gulls keep her company..


Mocha and her cub pushing two smaller bears away from a choice fishing hole.



Junebug and her nervous little cub caught in the middle of nine other bears (only one of which is visible in this photo). You'll be pleased to know that this little cub is still alive and well, and has gained a fair amount of weight this summer!

July bears

Often an indication of stress, yawning is something bears do quite often. This bear must have just genuinely been tired, as he had no competition near this fishing hole to stress him out.

Investigating the sounds of a splashing salmon upcreek..

Standing upright isn't a display of dominance or aggression. More often than not, standing upright simply provides an opportunity to gather more information via their eyes, nose, and ears.


A large, and fairly old male scoping out the spawning chum in the shallows.

A river otter plotting his route back into the trees from the shoreline. These otters run from the forest to the ocean to pick off a flounder in the saltwater. Sometimes they'll feast on the flounder on the beach, and other times they'll run all the way back to the forest dragging the large, flat fish.