Yellowstone #14 - A "Real" Bear

After the first day, because of the wildlife we had actually seen (a few elk, a random single buffalo here and there, and the ONE moose really far away) I pretty much figured we would NOT be seeing any bears or wolves outside of the tourist facilities we had visited (Bear World and the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center)...



WRONG!!! And I am so glad I was!!! This was one of the highlights of my trip...



We were driving along Yellowstone Lake on our way to Mammoth when we saw a bunch of cars pulled over again, so of course we stopped and got out to see what they had spotted... it seemed that whatever it was, was on the other side of the small meadow between the road and the lake, in the trees, so we figured it had been crossing the meadow and gotten spotted. Walking that way we heard a lady say "and two cubs" so we looked at each other and both said "BEAR?!?!?" and when we got closer, sure enough... and not just a black bear, mind you, but a GRIZZLY!!!!



Again Andria's zoom got a nice shot:

I'm not sure but I think that might be a second bear behind the branch, just above this one's head... or maybe not lol.

This is what I got with MY camera {eyes rolling} can you even find the bear?

But I also got this one of them running off back across the meadow, definitely two this time and you can see the sun shining off their "grizzle"

This last picture was taken a bit later, we had walked back to the vehicle and got back on the road and then a space opened up close to where they were so Andria pulled in and waited while I jumped out again... at one point the mama bear CHARGED some people who had gotten too close for her comfort, and Andria watched them scatter thinking OMG I can't see my mother! (That's because I was too smart to get that close!!!) Mama Bear didn't even get real close to anyone, she only charged about 10 yards and when the people started running away she turned and went back to the cubs... but it sure was exciting :)

Yellowstone #13 - Moose!!

Well back to Yellowstone but the rest of these posts are going to be so out of order, I can't remember any more what happened when and our pictures got loaded all out of order too... but it will still be fun!



The way we find most wildlife is that we are driving along and see a bunch of cars pulled over and taking pictures... this time it was actually a MOOSE! Andria was really excited because that is one thing she and Spencer did not ever see their first trip...

Can you spot him?



He was really far away but her zoom got some pretty good pictures...






We actually saw TWO moose this trip, the second was on the way home through the park where the Grand Tetons were... my camera was useless at this one too but again Andria's zoon came through...
She was SO excited about seeing a wild moose that I got her a stuffed one for a souvenir, and me too. Hers is green, mine is blue... cute as the dickens!

Just Wanted To Share This

...in case anyone is able to help out.

I hiked this area a couple of times as a teen, and had another reservation, I'm guessing about ten years ago, for fall, when they had a HUGE flood in the spring and had to close the Canyon then as well. It's very special to me so I am passing the word about their current issues...

This is the major part of an article in the Arizona Daily Sun (Flagstaff local paper) earlier this week, it was passed on to me by one of AZBCR's Flagstaff members:

Recently, on a more local level, there was a natural disaster in the Grand Canyon area. The Redlands Dam, just west of Valle, broke in the early morning hours of Aug. 17. That break, combined with heavy rains, brought destructive flooding to the Supai Village area of the Grand Canyon. Hundreds of members of the Havasupai tribe, tourists and others had to scramble to higher ground as the flood waters rose and later had to be evacuated to safety via helicopter.

Supai Village, considered one of the most remote towns in the lower 48 states, is accessible only by foot, mule/horse or helicopter. Tourism is the main livelihood of the members of the Havasupai tribe and the horses and mules of the tribe are of extreme importance. Approximately 400 mules and horses carry U.S. Mail to this remote village, deliver supplies to residents and campers, and provide transportation for the residents and campers. This region, which is now expected to be closed to the public for at least the next 6 to 8 months, will suffer a great economic loss without the tourism. But the losses to the horses and mules may be even greater.

These animals eat an average of 8,000 pounds of horse feed per day at an estimated cost of almost $2,000 per day. While the major source of income to Supai Village is suspended for the foreseeable future, feeding the horses and mules may prove to be the most difficult task ahead for this remote village. During the estimated closure period of 6 to 8 months, the animal care costs alone could reach $500,000.

The Just Roughin' It Adventure Co., an Arizona based hiking and backpacking tour company, leads excursions into Supai and has established a strong relationship with the Havasupai tribe. The company is currently making efforts to help their friends in Supai Village. Just Roughin' It has established a relief fund to help the Havasupai people with the cost of animal care until the tourism operations can be resumed.

If you would like to make a contribution and be a part of this important relief effort, please contact the folks at Just Roughin' It Adventure Company at (877) 399-2477. You can also check out its Web site, www.justroughinit.com, for more information.

Thank you very much!

Sheila V. Madrak can be reached for comments, questions and suggestions at animal.instincts08@gmail.com.

Where Were You...

...when the world stopped turning ...that September day?

I remember waking to the alarm clock radio, Randy was in the shower. I had reached out to hit the snooze when what they were saying registered. I immediately jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom to tell him what was going on... We were in shock but didn't know what to do except get the kids off to school and head for work...

I remember driving to work listening to the reports on the radio, tears streaming down my face... stopping at red lights and looking at the people in the cars next to me to see the same thing, tears streaming down faces...

Once I arrived at work, no one was getting much done... We spent most of the morning in the conference room watching the news reports on TV...

Have we forgotten? Not on this day of course, as anniversaries have a way of bringing back both the good and the bad. But in general, I'm afraid we as a country have "recovered" from that trauma a little too well...

I'm not just apolitical, I'd actually label myself ANTI-political... I hate anything that has to do with politics. But...

OBAMA

OSAMA

{shudder} I'm sorry - that's just too close for MY comfort...

For quite some time it has been part of my daily prayers that God lead the American people to vote in such a way that this country will stop moving away from Him and get back on track. Including me... I'm ashamed to say I haven't voted since we moved, since I didn't take the time to change my voter registration. Today I registered, and I WILL vote in this election.

I've said for years that a woman should be President but OMG please NOT Billary... well Sarah Palin is up for VP, not President, but hey, it's pretty darn close. And despite being anti-political, so far I like everything I've heard about her...

Well that's my soapbox for today and you won't see any more politics on this blog - at least, not until the election lol.

Being anti-political does NOT mean, however, that I am not patriotic...


Gotta get a horse in here somehow ;)

Good News! and Bad News...

I don't know all the details and technical terms but Randy says the CPAP machine really worked for him! They said he was snoring almost constantly (gee I could have told them THAT lol) but after the machine it basically went to ZERO. So they are ordering him his very own machine. The bad news? It will take 3-4 weeks for him to get it...

The burning question now is, will the MACHINE bother me as much as his snoring? My son-in-law has one and my daughter says she can't sleep with it either...

My Husband Didn't Come Home Tonight

Did that get your attention? Actually this is a really GOOD thing... especially since he snored so much last night that I didn't get much sleep. He is off to the VA hospital for his sleep test... fingers crossed for a GOOD result!! Luckily Hilary didn't work tonight and was home to feed the horses so after work instead of going home I drove into town and at least got have dinner with Randy before his appointment...

Yellowstone #12 - Buffalo Roadblock!

I suppose I can't ask you to guess what it was holding up the big red bus in front of us as we drove through Yellowstone, since I gave it away in the title of this post... We were zooming along and came up on a bus going way too slow, you can imagine our comments until we realized WHY they were going so slow...
"Hey" said Mr. Buffalo "It is MY park, after all..."


He finally moseyed over to the side of the road...
Love this shot right out Andria's window...

Gotta love ZOOM too even if it gets a little blurry...