Arctic Adventures

Recently I received another email showing the polar bears playing with sled dogs near Churchill, Canada. Many friends and fans have sent me this email over the years as I, too, have photographed polar bears. What many don't know is that I also photographed the sled dogs with the polar bears.

I shared coffee with the owner of the dogs while we warmed up in the pick-up truck I had borrowed. He asked me to look out for bears while he fed his dogs. He took a large block of frozen salmon from the back of his truck and proceeded to hack it up with an axe.

I wondered what he was doing as he tossed the first few large hunks in the opposite direction of the dogs. In a matter of minutes a polar bear showed up and began feeding on the distraction. Then he fed his dogs knowing that the polar bear would be busy eating the treat he left for it. The amazing part was how the dogs just swallowed the frozen hunk of salmon without chewing it.

Polar bears are known to be curious and this guy was no exception. He rose up on the tailgate to check out the rope that was in the bed of our truck. I grabbed a shot through the rear window as my photographer friend put the gear shift in neutral. The bear found the rope interesting, grabbed it with his teeth, and started pulling on it. The truck moved as the bear pulled on the rope. It was no strain for the bear, he pulled the truck without effort. The truck was like a little toy for him to play with. We weren't exactly thrilled to be in the polar bear's toy so we started the engine and the bear dropped down. Luckily the bear lost interest in us rather quickly.

In The Rhythm of Kokanee?

I promised I would update on our Rocky Mountain shoot to the Tetons and Yellowstone and I will, but I have other news first!

We returned from the Rockies on Saturday the 11th, and on Sunday we took a short ride to Taylor Creek where the Kokanee spawn at Lake Tahoe. Kokanee are landlocked cousins of the sea-going Sockeye Salmon and were planted by 

biologists in 1944. Every year they return to spawn where they were born, Taylor Creek. Almost every year I also return to watch, photograph and hopefully see a bear. 

This year it happened! Kathy was the first to see the bear, just 50 feet or so off the paved trail that boarders Taylor Creek. We watched as it approached the trail and as it did others noticed it, too. There must have been a couple of hundred people that came to see the Kokanee and a good many where in the right spot to see the bear.

For this past week I have done little else except go to Taylor Creek in hopes of photographing more bears fishing for the bright red Kokanee. So far I have seen and photographed 3 different bears.

One night, after almost everyone left and it was getting too dark for photographs, Kathy and I decided to take one last walk down the path toward the stream profile chamber. A bear was pulling a Kokanee out of the stream that came from the chamber and was walking in my direction. In a flash, it dropped the fish and started running toward ME! I was only about 50 feet from the bear and before I could say holy 'you know what' the bear jumped up the Aspen that I was standing next to! (you can see the Aspen on the right of the photo, I was on the trail just a few feet from the Aspen) After a moment or two, the bear came down from the tree, stood on its hind legs and sniffed the air, then found the fish it dropped and ate it. We left. What a thrill!

This a very large  bear I photographed the night after the 'Thrill', 

perhaps this is what scared the other bear! What a fat Bear!

Teton trip results on my next blog... stay tuned.

In The Rhythm of Bears

Sometimes you are forced into the rhythm whether you are ready for it or not. Friday Kathy and I had lunch with some friends at the local Chinese buffet. After lunch Kathy and I decided to check out Pope marsh for a Coot’s nest and wood ducks. We returned home about an hour and a half later and found a message on the answering machine. It was from our friends, they said that there was a black bear and her two cubs in their yard. I assumed the bears would have left by now as it was over an hour since they left the message (I was not in the rhythm). I went back to work in my office and about a half hour later got a call from Kathy saying our friends said the bear was still in their yard! Okay, this is crazy; bears don’t usually hang around that long. I grabbed my gear and headed to our friends house.

I arrived there in about 15 minutes, went through the front door and into their kitchen. Just 40 feet behind their back door, the bear and her two cubs were resting by a tree. For two and a half hours our friends had been watching the bear and her cubs just hang around, nurse, and rest. (I have now been forced into the rhythm)

I cautiously opened the back door, stepping out I kept one eye on mom while positioning my camera and tripod. She looked at me without concern as I made my first few images. This is too easy, I thought, as I pulled up a deck chair and made myself comfortable, lowering the tripod so I could shoot from the chair. Every time she or the cubs moved into a different position I would press the shutter and make a few more images. Every now and then she would rise up, alert, looking toward the street. Click, Click. Then back down again.

This peaceful session ended abruptly when two neighborhood dogs burst onto the scene barking ferociously. Before they were even in the yard the cubs were up a tree, mom took a little longer as she stood her ground to protect her cubs. When she knew her cubs were safe, and the lead dog was within a few feet, she jumped and in a split second was 15 feet up the tree!

Luckily, the dogs did not stick around and momma came down from the tree within a couple of minutes. The cubs followed and in another couple of minutes I was fortunate to watch and photograph mom nursing her hungry cubs. A first, in Tahoe, for me.

I spent 45 minutes photographing the bears. One of the longest sessions I have had with bears in Tahoe. I will post more photos, soon, on my web site under 'Daily Log.' Check ‘em out.