First Spring cub

Going back to June and the day I saw my first spring cub.

I am going back in time to my trip to McNeil River State Park.  We are there to compare management techniques with the staff.  We have hiked through the sedge meadow and are sitting on a group of logs watching bears.  We are sitting near a river (not the McNeil).  When along came a sow with one little spring cub.

The cub was so cute.  It was running after mom.  Mom checked out the river for salmon.  She munched on grass then she headed up the river.  The little guy went running after.  Everyone was taking pictures and were ooh and aahing over how cute. 

For the next five minutes watched a few subadults go by.  We could see the couple mating in the field.  It was a good time.  There was never a time where we didn't see a bear.  Then we heard a sound.  A growl and huff and running footsteps.  From up river came the sow.  She was running and calling.  But no cub was following.  She ran up hill and down.  She ran along the river.  She sniffed along the ground.  She huffed and growled and yelled.  She ran out of site down river. 

The whole time she was in our view there was no cute little cub.  Some how she had lost it.  She was back minutes later on our side of the river.  She ran past us in the same panicked behavior.  Then she was out of site again.  This scene played out for an hour.  She would show up running and calling then ran back.  At no time did we see the cub.  Then a heard the cub call.  Then it was heard by more members of the group.  Problem was mom was not around. 

Then across the river in a large clump of trees a few of us saw the cub run across in to the trees.  But mom still had not come back.  And of course we had lost sight of the cub and no longer heard it.  As a group, though we wanted the two to meet up, we decided to move up river and see how the action was up there.  Once we moved about a 1/2 mile we saw the sow.

She was no longer panicked. She was no longer huffing or growling or running back and forth.  No she hadn't found the cub.  she did however find a big ole salmon and was having a nice dinner.  Then she caught another, then another and another.  She had filled her stomach quite nicely and had forgotten all about her sweet little baby all alone in the woods with no one to love and protect her.  Needless to say the group was quite upset with this terrible mother.

Finally it was time to go back to camp.  We had spent over 12 hours of bear watching.  We never did see the cub again.  We did see the sow many times through the rest of our stay but she seemed to have forgotten she had a baby.  So I saw my first cub and then I lost my first cub.  How sad is that?

In King Salmon today it was meetings and birthday celebrations.  The sun was out and the wind was blowing 50 miles an hour.  Not much in the way of adventures.