Feeding the Bears in Yellowstone
When I was looking through my grandma’s old family photos, I found this one.
None of the people so eagerly approaching this bear are any of my ancestors, but my grandma was close enough to TAKE the photograph, so I can’t brag too loudly about how safe she might have been. Back in the 1940s and 1950s, visitors to Yellowstone park were allowed to approach and feed the grizzly bears. I wonder how many human injuries occurred before they changed that rule.
Now, when a grizzly bear wanders into an area of Yellowstone with lots of tourists, the rangers are right there to prevent encounters. Here’s a video of a grizzly bear at Old Faithful, chasing bison.
I LOVE how that video ends. He realizes that the grizzly is coming for him and he starts yelling, “Nope, no, no!” Then the video just STOPS! AWESOME!
I’ve seen bears in Yellowstone before and wrote about it here:
Here’s the video from our 2007 encounter:
It’s funny to me to see my videos and photos alongside the one from my grandma’s collection. Throughout the years, our family has visited Yellowstone many times and have enjoyed the wildlife there. It’s like I feel connected to her across the span of time and it has even bridged across death itself, creating a bond from beyond the grave.