Teddy Bear's Picnic

*Critters we’ve seen on our 2013 trip so far:  bison, pronghorn, elk, white-tail deer, Uinta ground squirrel, coyote, snowshoe hare, grizzly bear, moose, wolf, red fox, black bear, bighorn sheep, mountain goat, mule deer, llama, white-tailed jackrabbit, American
badger

*Birds we’ve seen on our 2013 trip so far: osprey, pheasant, magpie, raven, Canada geese, mountain bluebird, grouse, golden eagle, bald eagle, American avocet, sandhill crane, red-tailed hawk, cliff swallow, northern flicker, Clark’s nutcracker, Brewer’s blackbird

[Click on any photo to enlarge.]

There’s a darling children’s song called Teddy Bear’s Picnic, and it popped to mind as a title for this blog even though these definitely would not be classified as teddy bears…but they are so cute!

Early one morning while we were working, we had some unexpected campers.  At the far end of the campground, Russ spied a brown black bear sow and her two cubs…one black, one brown.  He radioed me so I could radio the Communications Center for assistance in keeping folks the required 100 yards from them.

The little Teddy Bears are having

A lovely time today.
Watch them, catch them unawares

Mama was pretty well out of sight most of the time, but the cubs were quite active, walking through campsites including one that was occupied.  This camper was not using a tent or staying in a vehicle but was instead sleeping in a cot out in the open.  When Russ first got down there, he thought the guy was actually sleeping in it as the cub walked by!  Turns out he was nearby taking pictures.

 

Beneath the trees where nobody sees

They'll hide and seek as long as they please
 

People were stopping in the middle of the road much closer than they should have been, but at least they were protected in their car.  Bear management arrived and helped to keep the traffic flowing and the spectators at a distance.  As you can see, Russ fortunately had grabbed our camera to get a few great shots, too.

 

Every Teddy Bear who's been good

Is sure of a treat today,

There's lots of marvelous things to eat

 

The cubs were most interested in getting to the berries in the bushes at the campsites.  Russ said it was amazing to watch them climb into
   these bushes and slender trees balancing their weight as they munched without falling or even barely bending the branches.

 

Finally the cubs decided to join mom in a tree near the amphitheater, and there they
   stayed for awhile until bear management decided for the safety of everyone to haze them up the hill into town and beyond.  Wish I could have been down there to see them firsthand, but Russ did get some fantastic pictures of the little bears having their picnic.

 

If you go down in the woods today you better not go alone

It's lovely down in the woods today but saver to stay at home

For every bear that ever there was will gather there for certain

Because today's the day the Teddy Bears have their picnic 



Yellowstone Tidbits:

• Black and grizzly bears walk on the entire foot like humans do.
• Yellowstone was the world’s first national park.
• In 2012 park visitation topped the 3 million mark for the sixth straight year.
• Old Faithful eruptions can vary in height from 103-184 feet.