My First Grizzly Bear of 2014

Last night, our field teaching team took our students from Missoula International to the Oxbow Bend Turnout in the Grand Teton National Park in hopes to observe wildlife at this rich watering hole!  It takes about 45-minutes to drive up to the Oxbow from the Kelly Campus as you have to drive into the the north-eastern portion of the park. 

Many of our teaching team were extremely tired from the craziness of our teaching week, and it was optional for me to attend this evening program.  However, there were rumors that grizzlies were reported to have been seen at the Oxbow at dawn and dusk.  And well, if there were grizzlies, I was more than willing to suck it up and drive up with the students in hopes of seeing these awesome animals than taking a night off.

And so we went...nothing at the Oxbow (but we got there around 6:45PM MST, and we thought maybe they will come out a little later.  So as we were setting up spotting scopes, Joe went off up the road to check out other road-side locations.  And sure enough, he came back explaining there was a grizzly sighting right up the road at the Jackson Lake Junction.

Quickly piling into our vans, we drove up the road, and sure enough, we were able to see a grizzled-beauty scavenging on something!

My First Grizzly Bear of 2014!

Scavenging on Something

Many other observers were stating that it was not our infamous, 399, but another tagged female that is not a popular number.  She was big and beautiful and the students loved watching her through our scopes and binoculars!

Grizzly Through My Binoculars

Every day, I am so thankful for my binoculars that I got for Christmas from Mom and Dad.  Being able to see wildlife clearer and closer up is beyond a priceless opportunity, but to also capture some photos too is awesome!

Also...it turned its rump to us and proceeded to do jiggle its booty, looking like it was trying to dance.  Really confused we tried to hone in on it through the binoculars, to our surprise, it was 'chasing a bear' (which in Teton Science Schools Field Education lingo, means, 'Going #2!!').  It was really cool, not going to lie (and do not judge that we found an animal doing its business interesting!)  It was just really interesting that it shakes it booty when it is pooping! haha! Potty dance!

Grizzly Bear Tracks!

After returning to the Oxbow, we walked on the muddy banks of the Snake River and discovered something awesome!  The Grizzly Tracks!  So clearly defined, you can definitely tell they are grizzly.  You can draw a lines between the toes and claw marks, and the line in between the toes and the pad does not intersect into the pad.

Full Grizzly Bear Track Gait

Of Course, I Had to Cast the Tracks!

Yesterday night was definitely worth the giving up of some free time to come with the Evening Program with my students.  Seeing the grizzly bear was so cool!  Besides seeing 399 and her three cubs last fall through a scope, seeing this grizzly more than 100-yards away and just needing binoculars was my first time viewing this species.  Not to mention, discovering grizzly tracks was beyond cool as well.

This morning after we said goodbye to our students from Missoula International and our team debrief meeting, I went back up to the Oxbow with 5-Nalgenes filled with plaster and a gallon of water.  Carefully making sure there were no bears on the bank and not in any danger, I went down to the muddy banks to cast the tracks!  Found hind and front tracks and made some perfect castings!

Best Night & Day Ever!
TheChristyBel