My first assignment as a park ranger for the National Park Service was at Glacier National Park – home to one of the largest Grizzly bear populations outside of Alaska. I was a technical climber, naturalist, and Grizzly bear manager. Actually, you can’t manage Grizzly bear. You manage people to stay far way from the bears. As rangers, we patrol the backcountry, take reports of bear sightings, close trails, post signs, and observe the interactions of bears and humans – from a safe distance!
One afternoon on a beautiful summer day it came to our attention that a sow (mother) Grizzly bear with two cubs was sighted on a trail within the park. This situation, a mom and cubs, is potentially the most dangerous scenario possible, mostly due to mom’s protection and aggressive behavior. My ranger partner and I promptly made our way into the backcountry, forgetting to take protection and radios.
We raced to the area of the sighting and made our way up the trail to a small ridge. As we reached the top of the hump, we discovered the approaching trio of bears. Momma bear saw us and immediately charged to our location. I turned to warn the other ranger and saw the back of his uniform as he raced down the hill, already half a mile from me – and the bears. Knowing that Grizzly bears don’t climb trees like black bears do, I quickly climbed up the nearest tree, as high as I could climb. Momma bear was mad and aggressive. She hugged and shook the tree for a very long time. Finally she left with the cubs following her in single file down the trail. I waited for several minutes before I made my descent from the tree and just when I was at ground level, I saw momma bear returning with papa bear, a huge male, about 1200 pounds.
These two angry and determined bears growled, hissed, snorted, and shook the tree as if their life depended on it. I was frightened to death and could see that they were not going to leave until they got me down and taught me a lesson or had me for dinner! Finally, after about an hour, they ran off into the woods, as if they had a plan or something.
Where was the other ranger and when was help going to come? I decided to climb down the tree and race to the ranger’s camp before the bears came back again. I started down through the branches and then caught a glimpse of the two bears running back towards me – and the tree. They almost looked like they were smiling. As they go closer, I could see that they were determined to get me this time because papa bear was carrying a beaver in his arms – to chop the tree down.
Luckily for me, just as the beaver was almost done chomping his way through the tree truck, the other ranger and friends arrived to scare off the bears. Even though I have photos of the bears’ tracks and beaver’s teeth marks in that tree, most folks still don’t believe my story. But, despite the disbelief, I’m alive today and have great respect for bears and beavers!
If you enjoyed this post, you might also want to read Steve’s article about old San Diego. Visit Steve’s website at Food and Wine Global Guide.
Image ~ above right~ courtesy of award-winning wildlife and wilderness photographer Stephen Oachs, Aperture Academy.
Thumbnail image ~ Creative Commons, gander178/Flickr.
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Love the story, Steve. The beaver is the star and the plot: “Get the intruder!” It makes a great adventure for a Disney-type video.