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.
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