Starling Travel

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There’s one sure way to spot a bear at Yellowstone National Park: look for a long line of cars parked at the side of one of the roads through the park. A bear that can be seen from the road will always draw a crowd.

Last time we saw a bear at Yellowstone, it was about a hundred yards away in the woods, and there was no way to get a good photo. Some fellow tourists demonstrated their stupidity by walking much closer, but we stayed by the road and contented ourselves with some blurry photos.

This time we were lucky—the line of cars on the West Yellowstone-Madison road led us to two black bears grizzly bears, much closer to the road. They were across the river, which prevented any tourists from risking their lives. We were able to set up tripods and get a couple of decent pictures this time, along with Laura’s video.

These appear to be Grizzly Bears, although we thought they were on the small side. Two of them were feeding on something (Bugs in a rotting log? A dead animal?) and they parted ways and walked in opposite directions along the river as we approached.

Update 05-02-07: I’ve added this map to show you approximately where we saw the bears. They were midway between the West Entrance and Madison Junction.

Update 05-04-07: I initially identified these as black bears, but I’m pretty sure they are grizzlies. Learn how to tell the difference.

We have been staying in Yellowstone for the past couple of days collecting more photographs and video clips than you could shake a stick at, but we couldn’t save this one until we got home. We saw a huge group of people stopped at the side of the road yesterday. That usually means that there is something interesting to look at. It also usually means that the safest thing for us to do is to drive away slowly because there is always somebody getting too close to the wildlife.

In this case, everyone was gawking at, photographing and rushing across the street in front of cars to see a black bear. They are so rare in Yellowstone these days that it was well worth my time to stop. Since there was a large river between us and the bear, I even felt safe enough to get out of the car.

There had been two bears feeding on the carcass of another animal, but this one had eaten enough and was leaving.

This wasn’t the first time I’ve seen a wild bear in Yellowstone, but this was definitely the best. I felt safe because it would have taken him a while to get across the water, so I could retreat to my car if I needed to and he was completely unimpressed by us.

I’m so lucky to see a wild bear in Yellowstone and even luckier to be able to share it with you.

Update 05-02-07: I’ve added this map to show you approximately where we saw the bear. He was midway between the West Entrance and Madison Junction.

We actually couldn’t see what he was eating. It looked furry, but it could have been a rotten log full of bugs or anything, really. It was hidden behind a large tree.

See tomorrow’s entry for Michael’s photos of the bear. He was able to zoom in on his pictures and get a lot closer than I could with my video.

• Starling Travel » Yellowstone Grizzly Bear Photos

Update 05-04-07: We initially called this a black bear, but it appears to be a grizzly. Learn how to tell the difference.