Grizzly Pictures
Glacier National Park
The grizzly mother gives birth in the high country, in a snug and
cozy den in late January or early February. Here the newborn baby
grizzly bear, weighing far less than an average human child, crawls
over its mother's thick fur to find a teat and begin sucking rich
warm milk. It's hard to imagine that such a tiny grizzly bear will
eventually grow into a huge animal weighing 500 to 800 pounds or
more.
There is an old saying that the only way to survive being chased by
a grizzly, is to be able to out run the hiker with you.
A grizzly bear cub however, is far more self-sufficient than a child.
It has a set of sharp teeth, a protective coat of fur and sharp claws.
Despite resembling our culture's favorite childhood image, a cute
and cuddly teddy, this baby bear is a self contained dynamo ready to
begin its two to three years of intensive lessons from mother on how
to survive in Glacier National Park and other bear habitat.
This cub, like all grizzly bear cubs, is filled with endless energy and an insatiable appetite as well as curiosity, playfulness and a zest for life.
As the weather warms, the mother grizzly and cub move down slope to
find an open area where a winter avalanche has scoured the snow
away, allowing succulent green plants to emerge earlier than in
other areas.
Grizzly Pictures were taken by Mark J. Harlow ©2007,
we met Mark while up taking photos in Glacier Park.
Visit more Nature Pictures by Mark Here
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