I keep forgetting that I wanted to post these photos from my son’s camera. We were driving through the national park at sunset and we thought at first that we saw a bison. At second glance we realized it was a bear.
A grizzly bear!
I stopped the car alongside the road…we were the first ones to see it. My son stepped outside the car to get a photo. I made him stay right by the car and none of the rest of us got out. We were not really close but I immediately saw that this was a mama with a cub. A minute later I saw a second cub. By this time there were several cars stopped on the side of the road and they were REALLY close to the bear.
One look at the image on my son’s camera and I could see it was a grizzly bear. We didn’t try to get better photos or get any closer. I really just wanted to give the bears their space.
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| Grand Teton National Park – Grizzly Bears July 2011 |
You can see in this photo that other people were not using good judgement and they were way too close to the bears. These are really big bears and I know that there is nothing like a mama bear protecting her cubs….
It was a wonderful experience to see these creatures in their natural environment. The cubs were sort of playing with each other as they romped through the meadow. The mama was walking with that bear sort of swagger that is so distinctive. Amazing to see just how big they are in real life.
Just another Wyoming experience…
I would have just put the window down and took my picture from the car. I wouldn’t want to see one of them up close.
How amazing to get to see such beautiful animals! I’m glad that you wisely kept a safe distance. We only have black bears in our state, and even those are seldom seen in the wild in our area (more are in the mountains), but I enjoy seeing the rescued bears at our local science museum. They’re so interesting to watch and learn from! — Kathy at http://www.needleandspade.com
Here in the Smokies we have tourists that use extremely bad judgment with getting too close to our black bears. We had people once who had their 6 year old trying to pet one. Although they are not quite as aggressive as a grizzly, black bears with cubs can be very defensive. I wish people had gotten in the right line when the good Lord handed out common sense lol. ~ Nikki
I remember being out in Yellowstone and people getting so, so close to huge elk.
Great pictures!! Thanks for sharing them!
I am in absolute awe!
We considered a trip to the Tetons and Yellowstone this year, but had to change our plans. Our family would love to see a bear in the wild – but definitely from a distance!!!
Thanks for sharing your Wyoming experiences. Great photos. I am continually amazed at what humans do!
beautiful!! I was just popping over to share some shots of a bear that was in my yard yesterday too! (just a much smaller black bear and her cubs)
Wow! So nice you got to see all three – safely. We missed seeing bears this trip to Wyoming. I’m thinking we need another trip to Alaska.
Amazing and beautiful! During our trip to the Rockies this spring we were dismayed to see people getting so close to the animals as well. It’s as though people forget that they *are* animals, not just photo subjects! My camera has a good zoom for a reason. 😉