Watching a grizzly bear go fishing

For half an hour or more we watched this male grizzly making his way up the Lardeau River yesterday. It was an overcast day with periods of rain and he took advantage of the cool weather to catch some of the spawning Kokanee salmon.

He seemed little interested in us and at one point passed under a bridge we were standing on only a few feet away. For our two guests it was the first time they had seen a grizzly.

If this had been Banff or Jasper we would have been surrounded by crowds but here in the Lardeau valley we were left to our own devices - not a single person came along to join us.

For more pictures of this beautiful bear see our website.

The bears arrive

After a few days with no bears to be seen, they are back with a vengeance. Yesterday our guests saw two bears - a black and a huge grizzly - just a few miles north of the ranch and this morning our two-year-old grizzlies returned after a week to play on the other side of our river. For some of our guests this was their first bear sighting and they were thrilled. Late this afternoon the young grizzlies were back again, this time closely tracked by a large black bear. The river is full of Kokanee salmon and it seems that bear season is now properly underway.

Grizzlies on the way

The Kokanee salmon are in the river and the grizzlies are beginning to arrive. It's still early - the real grizzly season starts in the last week of September - but a couple of nights ago, just before dark, we saw these two come scampering along the river shore at the edge of our property. We watched for a while and tried to snap a few shots in the diminishing light. Our guests were thrilled - none had ever seen a grizzly before. If last year is anything to go by, within a couple of weeks or so this will become an everyday sight.