The Loss of a Spring Cub at Katmai

I am back at Brooks Camp and there is a story that is part of the natural process in the wilderness but is still sad to hear. A female sow, number 402, arrived at Brooks Camp with three adorable little cubs, born this Spring. She, like all the bears that visit Brooks Camp are there for the fish. Bears need to feed and gain about 30% of their weight to survive the winter. Salmon running up stream contain a high number of calories, 4,000 calories per salmon, of which, a bear can eat up to 20 salmon a day. 402, before the cubs were born was quite a good fisherbear.

She took her cubs up to the falls on the river. This is where the bears can catch salmon without putting forth unnecessary energy. She had the three little ones on the side of the river and she was sitting on the edge watching for fish. The falls have a large number of dominant males. 856 is one of the biggest males at the falls. Now, I was not there when all this occured so my story is second hand. What happened next is that 856 started to move towards the shore where the cubs were. 402 started showing signs of stress. 856 kept moving closer. 402 could stand no more and rushed to attack 856.

She ran over jumped at 856. Her claws went around his neck. He stood up and with open jaws went for 402's neck. With his paws he grabbed 402 and flipped her over and dropped her to the ground and held her under the water. 402 struggled and fought to get back up. Meanwhile on the shore the cubs scattered. 856 released the sow and moved towards the shore in search of the cubs. 402 ran to try to block the huge male. She managed to get two of the cubs behind her. People who witnessed the account say the 856 was determined to get a cub.

The third cub was crying out for help and running back and forth but could not reach its mother. 402 tried to protect the little ones with her and still try to stop 856. But unfortunately, 856 found the third cub. He chased it into the woods where they were out of sight from the people who were watching the brutal scene. Then everyone who was there heard the little cubs death cries. It was said that the cry sounded like that of a human child.

856 appeared back at the falls. No one knows if he ate the cub or just killed it. Right now it is too dangerous for us biologists to go and investigate the carcass. What we do know is that 402 now has only two cubs. The reasons that male bears attack cubs is still unknown. It could be for a number of reasons including for food but it is more likely that they are saving valuable resources for their own offspring. This is the thought of many bear biologists. The death of the cub is sad but that is just part of life of being a bear.

Three Months In Alaska

I have now lived in Alaska for three months. I have seen Brown Bears, Wolves, a Moose, Bald Eagle and many other birds and smaller species. I have eaten salmon and moose and caribou. I have figured out how to grocery shop. I have found the best places to order things from with free shipping. I have tested myself in ways that I never dreamt I would do until I moved up here.

I have learned whats in important up here as the things I use to worry about in the lower 48 don't make much sense here. I have learned to live simple. I don't miss my car too much only in heavy rain. That may change as the temps start to drop but right now I love walking to work and everywhere else I go. I have learned not to be so fussy, especially when it comes to food. I have learned to pack for all things but make sure it weighs less than 50 pounds and this has been a big challenge for me. I have learned to keep things on hand for that unexpected potluck which seems to happen quite a lot around here.

I have learned that I am a lot tougher than I thought. And even at the thought of turning 51 I am still able to learn and adapt to new things. I have learned to give up fast food and not even miss it. But I have a feeling that when I get to town I may overdose on ice cream. That I miss. I have leaqrned that from scratch bread tastes and smells much better than store bought. I learned to sleep in the sun at all hours of the day. I learned that Alaska is the place I have always dreamt it would be.

Bald Eagle Surveys

So today was a day of flying and checking on whether my eagle nests had chicks in them or not. Eagles are such magestic birds. They can take your breath away when you see them swoop down and float above the river or when they are diving to make a kill. And if your ever lucky enough to see two of them mating you will never forget the experience. But when they are chicks they are the homeliest birds I have ever seen. They are born with no feathers. They look like tiny plucked chickens. Then they get a little down on them so they look like gray fuzz balls. The next stage is the first set of feathers. They will be almost all brown. Now they are the size of small footballs and from the air staring into the nest that is what they look like little brown footballs just lying there waiting for the next meal. It is hard to believe that they will be the awesome birds their parents are.

We checked 33 nest in four hours. I thought I was well prepared. I had my patch on and had ginger candy with me. I was doing fine the first two hours. Recording data on the computer searching out the window for the nests. We stopped on a patch of dry land for a bathroom break and for lunch. We I was feeling pretty good. We had three nest and about fifteen minutes left of flying when the airsickness kicked in. I was so disappointed in myself for throwing up again on the plane. Icould not believe it. but after I threw up I felt fine and finished the work with no problem. We had a 60% success rate which is above average and overall it was a good day. I even had guest for supper that night. I just have to find a way to beat this airsickness before moose surveys start. They take days to do. By the way I finally saw my moose. A lone, young female in a pond near a nest. YEAH!!!!!

The Darkness iIs Coming

One of things that has been different to get use to here is the long, long, long days of sunshine. Even when the sun finally goes down around 1am there is still twilight and it has never really got dark. By the time the twilight should end the sun is back up again. But now things are changing. I woke up last night at 1 am and it was daark outside. Not just twilight it was dark like a regular night. I was so shocked I just stared out the window. I could not make out the different trees and or things in the back yard. I went back to bed thinking about how long it had been since I had seen a night so dark and it had been back when we left North Dakota.

Now that the sky is starting to darken it means the day length is getting shorter. By December we will only see the sun for four hours a day. I have been wondering if there is twilight then. Another sign that winter is on its way. When I awoke in the morning I told Craig about the black sky. His first thought was how many stars were out. Dummy me I never looked up.

Fireweed in Bloom

Here in Alaska is a beautiful flower called fireweed. Though it is very pretty people around here have mix feelings about its blooming. Fireweed has many blossums running up the stem. It starts blooming from the bottom up. When the blossoms on the top open up summer is over here. So even though the flower is beautiful and plentiful around here it means that summer is about over. It is hard to believe summer is all most over as we haven't had a summer like I am use to. We have not got the record heat temperatures that the lower 48 is feeling. In fact this morning our furnace was running. I went for a walk earlier and was surprised how cold it felt outside. Of course, it was raining lightly and there was a breeze. The gift shop in town that opened June 15th is running end of the season sales all ready. The lodge at brooks camp closes September 17th. By the end of September the only places opened in King Salmon will be the bank, the grocery store, the small college, the post office and Eddies. The only day it felt hot here the temperature reached 63 degrees and only the humidity made it feel hot. I am told that fall here is beautiful so I guess I will find out soon enough. I do enjoy the fireweed though as it is a bright pink color that stand outs among the plants of the tundra.

Even The Strays Are Happy Here

Today I walked up to the post office to get our mail and give Craig a break. When I arrived there I was greeted by an airdale mix dog. I had never seen it before. He had the curly hair of an airdale, but the fur on the back side of him looked shaved, close to his skin. The front half of him was on the shaggy side. He had his mouth open and his tongue sticking out and he looked like one happy dog. No one at the post office had seen him before.

After picking up the mail and talking with a few people from town I headed home. I would say the dog followed me home but he ran ahead of me. It was like he knew where I was going. He kept going the same direction as myself about 50 feet in front of me. When I crossed the bridge over King Salmon Creek he stopped in the middle of the road. Not that traffic is heavy on the only paved road in town but a car was coming and I didn't want the dog to get hit so I called to it and it came. It ran right over to me and licked my hand. I told it to be careful and continued my way home.

Again the dog walked ahead of me all the way back to the house. When I reached our driveway he was sitting there waiting for me. Our neighbor is a law enforcement ranger and I figured she would know what I should do about the stray. I knocked on her door and when she opened it the dog walked right in. she looked at me and asked why I was bringing her a dog. I told her that it had followed me home from the post office and I didn't want to be accused of stealing someones dog and maybe she could tell me what to do with it.

First we called the dog back outside before he met up with her two cats then she told me that strays just follow a person and if you leave them alone they will follow another until they get their new home but the dog that followed me home was not skinny like a stray so it would probably go home on its own if we just let him alone. We talked a few more minutes then I went to my house. When I opened the door he walked right in. Camille (our dog) and him checked each other out then he went upstairs like he owned the place and said hello to our cat and to Craig. I finally got him back out of the house. I felt so guilty about leaving him outside I went and got some of Camilles food and went out the backdoor to see if I could find him. I didn't have to go far he was lying on our deck like he owned the place. I put down the dish of food snd he sniffed it but wasn't interested in eating anything so I now knew he was being fed by someone. I went back inside and tried to ignore him. He stayed on the deck for about a half an hour then disappeared. Later the neighbors chickens got out. I heard that our stray had something to do with that. The whole time he was here he had a smile on his face and seemed like he didn't have a care in the world. I wonder where he has gone.

New Tracks

Back in King Salmon. On the walk back to the house I was amazed at the changes on the trail. The alder trees had really bushed out and had grown over the trail making the trail narrower. What was really surprising is the tracks I saw and how many. There were bear tracks on the trail. Tracks of a good sized bear too. I also saw tracks of a wolf but next to the wolf tracks were little wolf tracks so a female with pups had gone through the area. Closer to home I saw Lynx tracks with kit tracks next to it. Lots of animals were using the trail. None of them however were in sight. That made it disappointing. Craig has been seeing more and more bear tracks on the hiking trails around town. Especially more bear signs. He told me about being on the trail when he heard something running towards him. He moved off the trail and he said his heart was pumping as he heard something getting closer at a fast speed. Then the neighbor and his dog appeared. Craig startled them and they had given Craig a few anxious moments. It is great to see the tracks and would love to see the animals just not that close or running towards you.

Slumber Party with the Bears

Four times throughout the summer our bear monitor will spend four nights studying bear behavior at the falls platform. The platform closes to visitors at 10pm and doesn't reopen until 7am. This gives the bears a greater chance to eat fish without the constant staring of people and photographers. This time out I am lucky enough to be here when our monitor is doing a night study. We wait till everyone is off the platform then we set up our overnight gear which include sleeping bags and bug tents. Then it is time to watch the bears.

The salmon have not arrived in the huge numbers that previous years have had. The bears seem to know as not many bears have been at the falls to catch the jumping fish. Tonight we are honored with presence of four bears. Cinnamon who is one of the oldest bears in the park. He is a large bear but the years have been rough on him as he is very skinny, with his rib cage showing. He use to be one of our dominant bears but now he begs for fish and he is slow to get up and move. 747 who is a large dominant male is in the river just below the falls. He doesn't have a nickname but he is as big as a jet so 747 works for him. Scardybear, who is a big male but is very nervous around humans is here now that all the people have gone. Lastly, Enigma is here too. Scardybear and Enigma are on the far side of the river. Scardybear is fishing and Enigma is watching Scardybear.

Scardybear gets a fish in his mouth and Enigma moves closer. We watch as Scardybear moves up the bank to eat his fish with Enigma right behind him. They disappear from view behind the vegetation. From across the river we hear growling between the two bears. Then over the top of the vegetation rises the two males with thier paws wrapped around each other and mouths trying to bite each others necks. They disappear again. More growling then silence. A few minutes late Scardybear comes back to the river. Another couple of minutes we see Enigma return. We don't know who got to eat the fish but neither bear had any new scars on them that we could see.

We watched bears for over two hours until it got too dark to see across the river. We headed for our bug tents and a few hours of sleep. I thought I would be scared or that the bears would make so much noice that I wouldn't be able to sleep. But once in my warm sleeping bag, I fell right to sleep. Three hours later we were back up with the sunrise to see who was fishing at the falls.

Cinnamon had spent the night sleeping in the grass next to the platform and was still lying there when we started monitoring. For a while that was all there was. Then a new subadult showed up and ventured out in the river. He wan't there long because Scardybear arrived and chased off the younger bear. Scardybear was on our side of the river. He would never be there when visitors were at the platform. These are things as a wildlife biologist I need to know. Facts like this tell me that our presence is keeping some of the bears away from their major food source. It was a good night. Now I have to go back and be a bear manager so my team can get some time off. What a job I have.

The Wonderful World of 284

284 is a 2 1/2 year old subadult. She was turned loose from mom this spring and is trying to figure out her way in the new world. She has attitude and determination mixed with a little adventurism and curosity. She keeps bear managers on thier toes.

Starting my morning off I was trying to get across the river early to get a little office work done before I had to spend the day managing the bears. 284 decided that I need to enjoy her company. I had just reached the lower platform when she appeared from out of the woods. I walked up the platform to watch and stay my 50 yards away from her. For a half an hour I watched as she meandered back and forth under the platform. She didn't look like she was trying to fish as her eyes never looked in to the river. She wasn't sniffing a trail or searching for food as her nose was high in the air not low to the ground. I think she was just trying to see what I would do. I just enjoyed the view and took a few pictures.

Down the river a few fishermen had tossed out thier lines. 284's ears perked up and she stopped pacing. The next thing I knew she was headed to the area of the fishermen. She ran towards the group of men who I had to yell at to get them to move out of her way. But 284 wasn't interested in the area the men were fishing she wanted to see if they had a fish on the line. A couple of days before she had scared a fishermen who had a fish at the end of the line and she learned very fast that an easy meal was to be had by chasing the fishermen. One of the park rules is that if you have a fish on your line and a bear moves within 50 yards of your line you must break your line so that the bears don't associate line and easy meals. Of course I have told you not everyone arrives at Katmai with their brains attached. Anyways, 284 not only chased the fishermen out of the river but she chased them up and into the woods. Once she realized there was no fish she came out of the woods and headed upriver. A few minutes later came the fishermen, who did a few double takes upriver in case she came back.

Not more than an hour later 284 was back. This time she was chasing another subadult down the beach at full speed. They ran down the beach, up a trail at the edge of camp and back to the corner where a ranger was stationed. I was trying to keep up with the bears and radio warnings to the ranger at the corner. Three photographers were walking to the corner, side by side with their backs towards the running bears. I screamed at the top of my lungs to warn the photographers, who at the last minute decided to turn around. They must have a quite the shock to see two bears running full speed at them only inches behind them. The bears ran around them and continued to the corner.

I barely had a chance to see if everyone was all right when two bears came running back at me. Then I noticed that 284 was behind the two running bears. Somehow the little lady got another bear to play tag with her. She chased both bears right thru camp. I radioed for help as there was no way I could keep up with them. The two front bears split off going in different directions with the other bear manager following one and another ranger following the second. I was one the trail of 284.

284 made a quick stop. In the visitor center were 20 people getting thier bear orientation and she decided that she should stop and check out the action. So when I caught up with her she was standing on her hind legs looking in the window of the visitor center staring at the group of people. I yelled at her and she got down and looked at me. She was near a trail that led to the beach and I hollered at her hoping she would go down to the beach and behave herself.

Not 284 she had other plans. She went in the opposite direction heading up to the cabins near the overlook. At least she was heading in a way that I could get her out of camp. So I just followed behind her yelling "Bear in camp get back to your cabins." Then I noticed an old couple heading to the lodge and 284 making her way towards them. I again was screaming out warnings and finally the old couple, moving very fast for people thier age backed up and moved to the nearest cabin. 284 stopped and looked at me. She had the expression on her face like a kid who just had their favorite toy taken away.

Finally, I got 284 to go down the hill and out of camp. Hoping to get a break I walked to check on the old couple and congratulate them on the quick manuevering. Then I began my patrol. I walked around some buildings and who do I see, 284. She had sneaked back into camp. I tried to haze back into the woods but she just looked at me and flopped down on the ground. I know she had to be thinking I am just going to rest now and you're just going to have to wait until I am ready to move. I called for help.

With my partner, the two of us got her to get up and move not in the direction we wanted but we more or less got her out of camp again. She had taken a trail that leads to the beach. Once she was on the beach she decided it was nap time. She laid down and went to sleep. To protect her, which I believe she doesn't need, from the visitors we put up baracades so people could not go down to that area of the beach. Every so often I would check on her. She is adorable when she is sleeping. She was all curled up and her head on her paws. It was cute. She stayed there for a few hours. By my lunch break she again was down by the river keeping the bridge tied up with her antics. Though she eventually got a fish on her own and left to find a quiet spot to feast she left a lot of frustrated rangers, including me behind.

The Fall in the Woods

As the wildlife biologist I am suppose to study all the creatures of Katmai National Park. This includes the butterflies. This time of year, in towns all around the country, peolple are doing the Fourth of July Butterfly Counts. It was too late for us to do an official count at Brooks Camp but I wanted to do one just to see what we had. I mapped out a survey area and filled my backpack with all the essentials for the survey; bug spray, binoculars, ID books, and camera. The sun was shining it was a perfect day for searching for butterflies. I started down trails recording what I saw. Then I followed the beach to the point. On the walk back a bear was walking on the beach towards me so I moved into the woods. The grass was tall and there were down trees all throughout the area. My goal was to avoid the bear but continue towards the next area to be surveyed. I had moved into the woods long before I had to to give the bear a clean view of the beach. So I was trying to keep an eye on the bear while walking through the grass and climbing over logs. I had stepped on a log but I fell down. I fell between two logs and landed on my back with my legs stuck up in the air. I was stuck in a hole between the two logs and I could not get back up. I must have looked like a turtle on its back. waving my arms and my legs trying to get back up. My backpack was stuck and me to the backpack. I knew the bear was geting closer. I was starting to get a little nervous as the bear could enter the woods at any time. Somehow I managed to get rolled over. I heard the bear on the beach. I was able to get my backpack off so I could stand up. As I stood I could see the bear passing on the beach. I breathed a sigh of relief and moved on. I discovered four species and saw quite a few butterflies.

Chaos at Brooks

Do you know what you get when you have one salmon, and seven hungry bears? Chaos, thats what you have. A young female subadult caught a fish in the river. She was chased by a little bigger subadult who wanted the fish. The chase started down the beach where our fish carrying bear ran into a courting couple. The female of the courting couple also wanted the fish. So bear number 1 was now being chased by bear number two and the female of the courting couple. The male from the couple of course followed his female. The fish carrying bear decided that the safest place to go was into camp. As she tore up the camp trail bringing three bears on her tail she happened across another bear who we were trying to get out of camp. Now even our ten year veteran wasn't going to try to stop five bears from chasing each other through camp. So our jobs were to get everyone into buildings until they all left camp or the fish was eaten. The first bear ran around the dining hall so all the visitors could see the chase. She ran down the trail till she was just about out of camp then turned around and headed back in the other direction this time around though two more bears were in the chase. No one knows where the last two bears came from. The bears circled around the cabins, down to the beach and back around the visitor center. My partner and I just tried to keep everyone in a building. Finally the first bear disappeared in to the woods. By the time the other bears reached the woods boundary you could no longer see the first bear. So the other bears decided that they would each go their own way. Two followed the scent of the first bear into the woods, the courting couple decided that they just couldn't wait to mate again and were doing their thing behind one of the cabins, one bear headed to the beach and the last bear headed to the river. By the time all seven bears had left camp the visitors had quite a story to tell, the staff let people out of buildings. We had people who were in the restrooms and storage sheds, along with people in the ranger station, the visitor center and the gear cache buildings. Last of all, us bear managers stop to take a couple of well deserved minutes of relaxation before the first bear returned, this time without the fishand the chaos.

Where do People's Brains Go?

Where do people's brains go when they go on vacation. Most of my job at Brooks Camp is to tell people to move back away from the bears. I watched a plane of visitors get off the plane and with their cameras placed at the eyeballs they walked right up to a brown bear. Katmai's bear are habituated to humans but they still need their space and they are still wild animals. These people just wanted the great closeup.

At Katmai you are not allowed to eat anywhere in the park but at designated areas. It is very important that the bears do not get human food. Important to both the bears and the humans. When you arrive, you go through the bear safety course that explains no food. Yet just about everyday I catch someone with food and they always look at me and say "I didn't think candy bars were food. It is just an apple it can't hurt the bears. You mean I can't even drink my coke on the beach." I watched this couple spread a blanket on the ground and start placing food on the blanket to have a picnic with a bear coming towards them.

I saw a man spit at a bear. He was lucky that it was our oldest bear who has a hard time moving anymore because if he spat on Cinnamon a few years ago that guy would be a goner. I had a visitor who didn't want to leave any area to get a safe distance from the bear as he wanted to see if he could win a wrestling match with a 1200 pound, 12 foot tall, claw yielding bear. Like I said, where do there brains go.

I had a photographer try to get very close to a sow with cubs and the sow hop charged him. He was being told by the bear to move away. The photographer was
a little shaken by being charged by the bear then he turned and looked at me and said "I din't know the bears were wild here." His isn't the only comment that defies belief here. I had a lady complain that she had to walk to go see the bears if this were disneyland the bears would be where I want to see them. Last but not least a woman complained to me that after spending all the money to get up here she was disappointed because the bears were so scruffy looking and wanted to know why we didn't do something about that. They are WILD animals people.

Sow and Her Cubs

Did you hear that a man and a woman hiking in Yellowstone were attacked by a female grizzly bear. The man was killed and the woman was picked up by her backpack but let go when other hikers heard her screams and came to her rescue. The couple had surprised the family group while hiking the trail and had come between the sow and her cubs.

A sow is very protective of her cubs. They don't take them near the falls as all the dominant males fish there. Male bears are known to attack cubs. Sometimes for food but more often to save resources for their own cubs. If a sow even smells a male she and the cubs are off like a shot. They get very protective here at Katmai when photographs get too close to the cubs.

On the day that the man died in Yellowstone by a sow I was having a totally different experience with a sow and three young spring cubs. I had just started my shift as bear monitor when I got a report that the sow and cubs were trying to enter camp by way of the overlook. The overlook is on the top of a hill that overlooks the Brooks River. Four feet away from the overlook are the riverview cabins. I had just got to the overlook when the 402, the sows number, and her cubs started to climb the hill. Normally for a single bear we clap our hands and make noice to discourage a bear from coming up the overlook. When it comes to a sow and cubs we try to just wave our hands and discourage her from bringing her family up the hill.

That is what I was doing. I stood at the top of the hill waving and talking to 402. She however had very definate plans. She climbed to the top. I moved back between two cabins and yelled to people in the cabins to stay inside. I watched as 402 looked at me then layed down and let her three cubs start to nurse. I watched from 35 yards as the cubs had breakfast and mom just relaxed in the morning sun. I would have left them alone but whenever 402 two and her cubs showed up photographers followed and it was safer for me to be closer to them to protect them then it would have been for the photographers.

Thirty some minutes went by as I watched the family. I kept telling people in their cabins to go back in until it was safe. I kept people from trying to sneak around for a better shot and I kept contact on the radio with other rangers trying to direct traffic away from the family. When the cubs finished nursing mom stood up and looked around then headed back down the hill. I stood there amazed that I was had been so close to this family and the sow let me be there. It is an experience that I will not forget and probably will never experience anywhere else. Katmai really is a very special place.

Cutbank Adventures

There are three areas where we monitor bear activity. One at the Brooks River falls platform, one at the lower river platform and on the cutbank. The cutbank is an area where the shore line is washing away from normal river erosion. Near the bank is a clump of four trees and in these four trees about 12 feet up we have a little platform set up to monitor the river, the fishermen, and the bears. The platform is just big enough for two people to sit. The main tree that the platform is connected to is starting to lean over the river. We have been afraid that it will fall while we are on it. We are working on building a new one in a different set of trees but nothing gets done fast when you work for the government. So we have tied ropes to our falling tree to trees deeper in the woods in hopes that if it should give way they will either stop the fall or give us time to get out of the tree before we end up in the cold water.

Even though the platform is not the safest place to be, it is the coolest place to watch bears. We can see a very large section of river and we aren't surrounded by visitors so you can monitor the bear behavior without interruptions. Every third day the monitoring is done here. My first night back at Brooks and we are on the platform starting our survey. Our first bear to show up is Beadnose. She is a very cute female, a great fisherbear, and when she looks at you, you just want to hug her and place a ribbon in her hair, she is that cute. She stops and looks up at us then proceeds under the platform where she lies down. It reminded me of a big dog lying in wait for her owners to get up. She stayed with us for at least a half an hour. Every so often we would glance down and look at her.

We saw other bears in various parts of the river fishing. Then we saw a courting couple. They were on our side of the river walking the shore line. The female, 198, was in the lead followed by the male, 856, who is a pretty big male. They headed right for us. Neither of us working knew what the two bears would do if they saw us so we became very quiet. 198 came close to the trees then noticed Beadnose. 198 moved into the woods and circled away from the platform. Beadnose caught the scent of the male bear and ran off along the shoreline. Then 856 showed up. He lumbered underneath our platform sniffing for his female. With every step he took the ground shook and the platform wiggled. I hung on to the branches tighter. He followed the scent of Beadnose, and headed away following the shoreline. My partner and I looked at each other and whispered how we hoped he wouldn't see us because if he should stand up on his hind legs we would be in trouble. He is that big of bear.

856 realizing he was following the wrong female retraced his steps. He was not a happy bear. We sat very still, hardly breathing, trying not to make a sound as the big male sniffed and huffed and tried to figure out where is girl had gone. Again he moved under the platform. The trees rocked and the ground shook and I looked up trying to figure out if I could climb higher into the tree. Then 856 found 198's scent and headed off in the woods to find her. With a sigh of relief we went back to work.

Where is Sherri's Moose

One of my jobs, here at Katmai, is to study the moose population. I have been studying the past data and getting it organized. I am learning about the way the aerial studies are done. They begin in November. Then I will be going out with our pilot flying around the park looking for moose. Here in Alaska, I thought moose were everywhere. But in the 3 months that I have been here, I have yet to see one. Not that I haven't been looking. The first week in November I have to present our data in a symposium in Anchorage, before the surveys begin. My goal is to actually see a moose before that. Everyone knows about this goal so now I hear about everyone else's moose sightings,dropping findings or footprints that have been found. The worse part is that Craig was at Brooks Camp on Wednesday and on his flight home he saw a moose. Of course, it was the first thing he said to me when I got back. Where is my moose?

Chocolate vs Bears

I am a serious chocolaholic. I can't go a day without some. Doesn't matter what form it takes; chocolate cake, candy bar, chocolate chip cookie. I just need my fix everyday. Chocolate here in the bush is very expensive, a 8 ounce bag of M&Ms will run $9, a bag of minature chocolate bars at the AC run about $10+. I refuse to pay that price but I need my chocolate. So my wonderful husband sends me some in a care package every other week just in time for my trips to Brooks Camp. This week he forgot. I have no chocolate.

I got off the plane at Brooks camp and spent the rest of the day answering bear calls. I felt like I had run a marathon. Normally I would go back to the cabin and have some chocolate and relax. Tonight I just craved it. I was not a happy camper. I all ready have given up being with my husband and ice cream I could not go without chocolate too. I decided that the next day I would go to the lodge gift shop and see if they had any.

The day started out with three bears closing the float bridge which meant I could not get across to the ranger station. I was trying to get there early to use the computers but no go. I was busy trying to keep visitors safe from the bears in the water fishing by the bridge. The day from then on was hectic. By noon I managed to get a ten minute break to eat lunch and by this time my chocolate cravings were supreme and I also began aching for a coke to boost my energy level. I was scheduled to get off at 4:30 and the lodge gift shop closed at 5:30. I had plenty of time to pick up my fix and head home.

4:30 came and I was called to follow a bear on the beach. I watched it walk down the beach to the river keeping visitors a safe distance away from the bear. 4:45 a call came that a bear was entering camp at the other end of the camp. Quickly I walked to the area of said bear and found it behind an employees cabin munching on grass. I tried to haze it out but the bear was not cooperating. I had to call in help. Together we got the bear to move. Not in the direction we were hoping but moving none the less. We followed her down the trail and finally got her in the direction of the marsh and out of camp. A few more minutes of persuasion and she had left. Finally I was off. I had 15 minutes before the store closed. I had to go the the ranger station and get my backpack which had my wallet. Right by the ranger station was another bear. Luckily, he was easy to haze down to the beach. Inside the station, I grabbed my pack and rushed out the door. Ten minutes left. I walked into the store reached in the cooler for 2 cokes and found the chocolate. They had four types of candy bars, I bought one of each. Total cost of my purchase $9.50.

Now you are not allowed to eat or drink anything outside at Brooks camp unless your in the picnic areas which are surrounded by electric fences. You can however take food from one spot to another. I was going to take my cokes and chocolate and head the 2 miles home. To do that I had to cross the river. Unfortuately, the river was closed because bears were fishing near the bridge. 1/2 hour later the bridge opened. I could finally go across the bridge and head home. My thoughts were on the chocolate in my pack. I was half way across the bridge when I got called back as a bear had appeared under the platform across the river. Now I love the bears I work with but they were getting on my nerves. Another chance to cross the river. I moved with a purpose, which is what we say to visitors when we want them to move fast but not run. (Never run in bear country) I had made it across.

I walked the trail to my cabin. I had to stop and answer a few visitor questions along the way. Your never off duty if your in uniform. Finally, I made it back home. I took out one of the cokes, chose a butterfinger for my chocolate, sat down in front of the picture window and enjoyed my treats as I watched the sun shining on the mountains acrossed the lake. Life was good again.

Salmon Fishing on the Bigscale

Craig and I thought we would head to Naknek to see the fishing. We were told that you should go check it out because it is a little crazy. So thats how we sprent our day. We drove down to the beach on Bristal Bay. When we got out of the car and walked down to the beach we couldn't believe how many boats were out in the water. Each boat had a drift net out in the water to catch the fish. There were so many boats trying to fish it is hard to imagine a salmon actually getting thru and reaching Brooks River. As the boats floated around on the water they reminded me of the old magnetic football games where when you turned on the switch every piece moved around in little circles not really going anywhere.

From the beach set nets were laid out. Every 200 yards a person, with a permit, can lay out a 100 foot net starting from shore out in the bay. At the end of the net is a buoy. The entire beach was covered in these nets. On the beach were signs marking who's area it was and their phone number. In the bay were small skiffs bouncing in the waves at the end of the nets. High tide was just going out and people began to pull in the nets. We watched as the boats began to fill up with salmon.

Once the boats were filled or the nets cleared. All the boats headed to a large barge out amongst all the boats. This boat collected the catch, weighing the fish and then I guess they give the fishermen a voucher for the amount paid for the salmon. Some of the drift netters keep thier salmon for food over the year. It is interesting to hear what people want for their supply. Craig and I have one. It is a start! Fishing lisences are expensive for non-residents so I am going to wait until next season. You have to live in Alaska for a year before your a resident. But I think I might want to try to catch one. Not with a large net. I think I will start smaller and try it with a pole first.

King Salmon Hike

I am back in King Salmon and spending the day with Craig. He would like to go on a hike as he has not seen any wildlife and thinks this would be the way to do it. So we decide that we will hike the road to Lake Camp which is the start of Katmai National Park. It is eleven miles from our house. I know we can't reach the camp but we will go as far as possible.

Craig is not an early riser so we got kind of late start. We covered ourselves with bug dope and headed down the road. We walked and walked and walked. We past open tundra, beautiful spruce fields and dense alder bushes. We saw a couple of birds but no bears. Our neighbors said she saw a sow with cubs down this road that is why we are walking it for that chance to see the cubs. What we did see was our neighbor driving down the road. She stopped to ask what we were doing all the way out there. Just hiking. We got a strange look and a smile and continued on our way. finally after two hours of hiking and five smiles added to our shoes Craig decided to turn around. On our way back we were watching our tracks when we saw very large bear tracks that went over our tracks from earlier. We had just missed a bear and by the size of the footprints he was a big one. I think the bear was teasing Craig as that is all we saw on the hike.

Trying To Work

When I am working I am wearing the National Park Service Uniform. I look just like all the other rangers. And just like all the other rangers I have to be ready to answer peoples questions. Today's task was to watch bears at the riffles and mark down descriptions and take pictures and identify the ones that I knew. Which right now isn't a lot when 72 bears feed at the river. When I arrived at the river two of the bears I knew where doing what comes naturally right out in the middle of the river. And of course there were a group of people watching. When I arrived with my uniform on the questions began.

When two bears mate we try to record who the bears are and for how long they mate. I was informed by the guests that this event had just started. Two of the visitors were two children from India who were quite facinated by the whole procedure. Poor 192, she just has a number not a nickname, did not look like she was enjoying the romp in the water. As I answered questions and told everyone about our wonderful brown bears the two bears had moved on to the beach and were at it again. I made a few notes in my notebook and answered more questions. I wasn't getting much done.

Then little Beadnosed showed up. I told the crowd to watch Beadnose at work as she was quite the fisherman. I expected to have a few minutes of peace to do some work as Beadnose tried to catch a fish. She caught a fish all right. She stood on the beach looking into the water and all of a sudden she made a mad dash in the river, made a jump and came up with a fish. Even I was amazed at how fast she had caught the fish. Not only did I not get work done but now I had to reply to all the people telling what a sight that was. Not that I mind telling people about the bears. I think they are the most wonderous creatures and enjoy telling people what I know. Though I still have work to do.

About that time a large male arrived at the falls. You can see the falls from the riffles platform so the group decided it was time to move. I said good bye and turned around to see what my mating couple was doing and where Beadnose had gone with her fish. The couple, who had now been going strong for 30 minutes was still at it. Beadnose had taken her fish and sat down about four feet from the two bears, eating fish and watching the couple. Fish and porn for supper, it was quite histerical.

It is the Eagles Turn

On the falls platform tonight were a large group of people. They, like me were waiting for the fish and the bears to arrive. The salmon were jumping but not in the high numbers that will happen soon which causes the bears to arrive in high numbers. The crowd waited patiently for a bear. Then out of the water jumped the salmon. He missed and disappeared back into the water. Another fish jumped or maybe the same one and missed again. When a salmon finally made it over the falls people cheered. I hated to tell them that cheering on the platform was not going to let the bears hear the fish as that was the only entertainment for the night. So every so often a fish would successfully jump over the falls and people cheered.

Time passed and still no bears. The people with all thier cameras stood waiting for that one perfect shot. When it happened, most people missed it. Out of the air swooped down a bald eagle. It soared low over the water and tried to catch a fish with its mighty talons. Everyone oohed and ahhed. It was a magnificient sight. Then to give the camera people another chance it turned and soared back up the river, this time catching the mighty salmon as it jumped. He carried it up into the trees and disappeared. It may not have been a bear but it was good entertainment.

Little Lost Bear

This evening I was walking toward the ranger station when I met one of the Law Enforcement rangers, who asked me if I saw the cub. I got excited because we had only seen one sow with cubs. I asked where he saw them. He said it was walking down the beach I could probably get ahead of it and get a good look at it. When I said it, he said that it was only a cub.

Sows are very protective their cubs so I was a little doubtful that there was a lost cub. I placed myself in a safe distance to view what was coming down the beach. After a few minutes of waiting I saw the cub. It was too big for a spring cub but it was not big enough to be alone. Sows nurse their cubs for two years. This cub looked to be a yearling. He looked lost and kept looking back over his shoulder. Sometimes being a biologist is hard to do. This was one of those times. It was so small and frightened looking that I wanted to go and hug it. I wanted to take it home and give it a salmon and a glass of milk. But the biologist in me said it is all a part of nature. Either he was separated from his mom and she is frantically looking for him, which by the way would not be good if I was holding the cub,or something happened to the mom. I am hoping that the sow finds this little one as on its own at this young age it will either die of starvation or be eaten by something bigger. Its chances of survival without mom are slim.

Diver Jr.

Diver Jr. is one of our loveable male bears. He isn't old enough or strong enough to take on Popeye or Lurch but he is quite a character. He has long gangly legs and a rather chunky stomach. It is said that he inherited his fathers fishing skills which is to run and then dive into the water to catch the fish. I here this works about 50% of the time. Tonight I got to see Diver Jr. in action.

Salmon will gather in pools in the river then all at once move at the same time. This causes the water to move looking as if it is boiling. The movement is called a fish boil. Of course this movement also causes noice and bears react to the noice in a very active way. So the first of many fish boils took place right in front of me in the river. Diver Jr. was about a quarter of a mile down stream As the boil began, he rose out of the water and ran towards the noice. It was amazing to see how fast this young bear could run. Then I saw the famous dive. No fish this time.

Diver Jr. may have inherited his fishing skills from his father but I am not sure where he got his running skills. Though he was fast his run was the weirdest run I had ever seen. He kind of ran leaning side to side with his paws moving in awkward angles. It is very hard to explain. Think of the dopiest run you cand think of and I am sure you'll be able to imagine Diver Jr. running. So there he goes again,running up the river then the ll body dive. To me it looks more like a belly flop. Then when he gets up with no fish he stands on his hind legs and looks around with this expression that says "Hay, where did the fish go?" I never laughed so hard in my life. This went on for about an hour. At no time did he ever catch a fish. After his hour of trying he rolled over on his back and just floated down the river out of sight. Just bouncing along with out a care in the world.

Cute and Cuddly or Wild and Mean

I arrived at the lower platform early in the morning. I was to be alone for the first two hours on bear management. To keep bears out of the camp I need to be on the other side of the river. My first bear was asleep on the beach. The bear on the beach was no other than Lurch. Where he was sleeping was not close enough to the bridge to keep me from crossing but since I was early at getting to work, I decided that I would watch Lurch for a while.

He was all curled up with his head on his paws just sleeping in the early morning sun. Then he rolled over on hs back and stretched out. His four paws in the air and he just laid there totally relaxed. He scratched his tummy, yawned and rolled over again. Watching him through my binocculars he was so cute and cuddly. You just had to laugh as he enjoyed his moments in the sun. I had to go to work and Lurch just rolled on his back with his paws stretched out as much as possible.

Four hours later he finally decided that he had enough sleep and got up. This bear is a dominant male bear. Other bears move out of the area when he is around. He is taller on all fours than me standing up. As he moves up the shoreline everyone had to move out of the way. As he moved out of the area. I decided that even though he looked cute and cuddly if he tries to get into camp, I am just going let him and move the people out of the way. I ain't going to try to make him do anything he doesn't want to do.

The Best Fisherman

Tonight at the falls I saw one of our very large dominant males. His name is Lurch. I hear tell that he is not the greatest fisherman in the group. His way to get fish is to stand behind the bear that is the best and when it catches a fish he takes it away. But tonight it is just him at the falls and me watching. He positions himself in the bowl. It is an area where the water churns and the salmon have a lower leap to get over the falls. He stands there with his mouth wide open waiting for a salmon to jump right in. Unfortunately for Lurch there are not that many salmon in the river yet. The Alaska Game and Fish are in charge of the commercial fishing and they have let the fishing vessels take a large number of fish and the escapement has been low so far. The escapement is the number of fish that haven't been caught by the vessels. Today was the first day that they stopped the fishing to let the salmon swim on through. It will take a few days to get here though.

So while I am watching Lurch try very hard to catch a fish for himself. I see this gull standing on the shore line. Its small, beady eyes trained on the water. Then he hopped down in to the water and grabbed a fish. He returned to the shore and watched the water. Within a minute he had caught another fish. I watched him catch five fish and then looked at poor Lurch standing in the cold water smacking his lips. You could see he was all ready savoring the taste.

Back to the little gull. He was swallowing another fish. He caught fish after fish. Then another gull tried to join him on the shore but he was not having nothing to do with sharing. He was back to the shore and with in minutes he had another fish. While poor Lurch was still standing and waiting. I stopped counting how many fish the gull ate after an hour and Lurch decided that he had enough and wandered out of the water. The gull had ate 30 fish, not sure where the bird put them all.

Life Is Tough If Your A Salmon

I have never thought about what it would be like to be a fish before I watched one night as the few salmon in the river tried to jump the falls in the river. Can you imagine, you trying to get back to the place of your birth to spawn but before you can do that you must travel miles and run a gauntlet just to get there. Your out in the ocean and you know it is time to go back. You ride the tides to the mouth of the Naknek River. Then fighting the current you swim upstream dodging the numerous commercial fishing nets set out to catch. As of today 2 plus million of your relatives have all ready lost their lives to the commercial nets. You make it past this, and swim up the Naknek, through Naknek Lake to reach Brooks River only to be met with a large group of sportsfishermen who would like nothing better than to catch you on thier hook and knock you on the head, and take you home for dinner. You gather with your buddies, waiting for the right moment to make your move. When enough of you has gathered together you move as one furious group causing the water to look as if it was boiling and you make your dash up river. Past the fishermen you go only to find out that to get to the next part of your journey you have to jump six feet over the falls. Not an easy task because before you get to the falls you have to go through the riffles, shallow, rocky waters where the less dominant bears are waiting for you. The bears run, you swim, and in a sudden splash you watch as a member of the group is taken in the teeth of the splashing bear. You swim on and make your jump, only you don't make it on the first try. You swim around gathering speed you jump, only to just hit the top of the falls and you fall back into the water. A third time you circle around and with a buddy or two you jump. You are barely over the falls. You wiggle your tail back and forth struggling not to let the current push you back over. As your struggling you see you comrades jump right into the open mouths of waiting bears. You have made the falls and are swimming into Lake Brooks where you pass till you get to the little stream you were born in. There you will mate and give life to the next generation of salmon. And what do you get for your award winning battle of survival? You get to die and and float back down the river where waiting bears, eagles, gulls and maybe a wolf will be waiting to feed on you. The circle of life, you got to love it.

We All Have Dreams

Life at Brooks Camp is far from ordinary. Things happen here that I have never seen before anywhere else. Today I was roving around the boundaries of camp keeping my eyes open for bears. Activity levels of the bears around the area have picked up as they move towards the river waiting for the salmon to move in. There is a spot on the backside of camp called the overlook. It is on a hill looking down on the Brooks River and the marsh land that exists in the little valley below. It is a great place to look for bears, and birds. I love to go there in the morning when the eagles are hunting the river. Today as I reach the overlook I notice four white spots in the spruce trees across the river. I take a look through my binocculars and in the first tree I see a beautiful bald eagle, not a full fledge adult probably a four year old bird. Bald Eagles do not get their white heads and tails until they are five years old but this bird was pretty close. In the next tree I spot the other three white heads. They are not eagles however, they are gulls perched in the very top of the spruce tree. All three of them are sitting, trying to look as regal as the eagle. Gulls are normally water birds, they scavenge around beaches and shorelines. They fly over water looking for meals. Never have I seen gulls perched in the tops of trees. My best guess is that they were dreaming they were eagles. And who wouldn't want to be an eagle.

Sweet Little Ducks

So tonight I spent the evening standing on the lower platform hoping to see some bears before I went back to the cabin. I did not see any bears. I di however see a common merganser with eight chicks. She and her little family were just relaxing on the river. Then along came a mother mallard she too had chicks with her, eight of them also. So there they were two happy families sharing a small section of the river. Mother merganser did not like the fact that mother mallard was near her and her chicks and vocally let her know that this was her territory. The female mallard ignored her and her and her family continued feeding in the area. Now the Brooks River is big enough for all of them but the merganser was getting wuite worked up about the mallard family moving into her territroy and she moved closer so that the mother mallard could hear her loud squawks. As she got close to the mallard, the mallard duck tried to bite the merganser. This started an actual duck brawl between the two mothers. Both of the females were swimming around each other biting and squawking while the 16 chicks just swam around together wondering what to do. Finally the merganser got the upper hand and bit the mallard in the neck. Mother mallard called to her chicks and the family swam away. I have worked with waterfowl for many years I have never seen two species fight each other. Another first for me in Alaska. It makes look at ducklings in a whole new light.

Fashion Styles of Brooks Camp

The camp is in full swing and visitors are coming from all over the world. I have met people from China, Japan, Australia, Finland, Argentina and of course from all over the United States. Each person brings their own style into the wilderness. The people who come to Brooks Camp to fish all get off the plane in waders with their pockets full of who knows what. The rest of the visitors that come in to see the bears carry a wide variety of cameras. Small ones, extremely large ones, lens of all shape and sizes. People from magazines, national geographic, travel shows all show up hoping to get the one great shot of the bears.

But if you really want to be in style it is the type of bug net you where over your head. There are the unimaginative that have the plain green mesh but most people I have seen have really jazzed up the bug nets. Baseball camps of all different colors with the netting attached. I have seen all colors of netting. I have seen leopard spotted berets with fashionable green neeting. I have seen safari hats and stocking caps with head nets attached. But this past trip out there a lady from Texas who took the prize, she had a different hat and net for each day and each activity. She arrived in a pink with black spotted hat with a pink bug mesh. Later that day I saw her in waders with a purple baseball cap and a lavender mesh bug net. The next day for her trip to the valley she had on a bright red cowboy hat and you guessed it came with a light red mesh. She also had a green beret, and on her last day there she left wearing a purple cowboy hat minus the bug net. People watching can all most be as facinating the bears. By the way I have a combination shirt and head net. The head net is a hood which zippers in front across the chest. it is very functional as I can tie the sleeves together and remove my arms from my sleeves and bring my meals in under my shirt and eat without letting my face be covered with bugs while I eat. Not stylish but very functional for the bush. I purchased it from a web company called bug baffler. Check it out. Not sure where you get the Red cowboy hat and red mesh.