yellowstone
a nature paradise

Mammals, birds
and flowers

click on a photo to start Lightbox, that lets you see the series of photos one after the other in a bigger size, plus legend.
 

Our Encounter with a Bear Family

bear cub
bear cub near Mammoth

Then finally, there are the bears... Sometimes only in the form of a rumour: 'Please be bear-aware!' or 'Be careful on this trail: bears were seen on this track'...
appeals for bear awareness near Mammoth
But on the way back home from Mammoth, we were in luck. A trail of cars moved slowly along the road. After some time the reason became clear: a rangers' car stayed at the side of a mother bear (a grizzly we think) that was quietly walking with her cub. People in the cars tried to make photos of the two, but the rangers kept an eye on the goings-on. When we arrived on the spot, the big mama decided to leave the road and get back into the forest. We had the chance to take some pics, but another ranger car used its horn to warn us to get on our way.

There they are! The Bears are here Mama Bear and Baby

Mama Bear... ... and Baby Bear

The Bear's foot
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Being bear aware includes some life-saving habits like going in groups of 3, 4 or more people, not eating while you are walking (and better not to bring food or keep it in an airtight container), looking out when turning a corner on the trail, carrying bear-spray (some kind of pepper spray for bears), and... talking loudly or singing while you walk.
So, we took the habit of singing out loud while we went on bear-prone trails. One of our favourite songs was:

'k Zag twee beren
broodjes smeren
o, dat was een wonder
't was een wonder, boven wonder,
dat die beren smeren konden
hi hi hi ha ha ha
'k stond erbij
en ik keek ernaar.
I saw two bears
buttering rolls
Oh, that was a wonder
't was a wonder, super wonder
that those bears could butter
he he he hah hah hah
I stood there
and I looked at it.

See and hear the kids song (in Dutch) "'k Zag twee beren" on YouTube (in an new window)

During a walk to the Jenny and Leigh Lakes in the Great Tetons, Touché sang a good part of her samba repertoire, including this Portela theme, in order to save us from a bear encounter... :


The first ever live samba performance at the feet of the Tetons!

As you can imagine, we didn't see any birds or mammals, let alone a bear, after this live walking concert...
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