Bear Cam Week in Review November 10

Hi and welcome to our weekly Bear Cam blog. We will be publishing this blog every week with a review of the previous weeks Bear Cam highlights. No cam highlights this week, but we did have comments and photos from Ranger Dave, as well as live chats from Mike Fitz and Ranger Roy Wood to report on. Brought to you by your bear cam Mods, LaniH and GABear.

When Ranger Dave posted his first photo in comments, along with its ID, I doubt if he knew how much interest it would create. You could almost see eyes widening and yes, even some jaws dropping when we learned that a bear frequently seen at Brooks Falls this fall, that we’d been unable to ID and had been calling “patch bear”, turned out to be…….. 274 Overflow! I think there were only a handful of viewers for whom this was not a big surprise! There was a lot of discussion, many photos looked up and posted for comparison and talk of how this was likely the same bear we had spotted late last fall as well. Several ID possibilities had been discussed in the cam comments. Last season, when we didn’t get as good of a look at him, there was thought he might be 469, an older bear who has a light, diamond shaped shoulder patch on one side. But then it turned out this bear had light patches on both shoulders. Indy 500 was also in the running as a possibility when we weren’t certain it was a male bear. 274 is proof of how dramatically a bear’s looks can change from early summer – when we had seen 274 in the past – and late fall. Learning that this was a bear that was familiar with the falls and the other bears helped explain why this bear had a pretty good comfort level around the other bears and the falls area.

Ranger Dave: “This is a photo of 274 Overflow from September 27, 2017. When I saw this bear in camp, I did not know who it was. This is a photo from Leslie and Tammy’s bear monitoring data, which is still not finalized. Hopefully some folks will be able to match up this photo with those they took over he fall to help with IDs.”

274 Overflow Sept 27 2017

274 Overflow June 24

274 Overflow June 28 2017

Ranger Dave:”This is one of the subadults that will receive a new number this winter/spring. He is believed to be the offspring of 273. September 18, 2017.”

273’s offspring

“Believed to be the same bear, July 23, 2017.”

273 Offspring

273’s yearling in 2016

Ranger Dave: “This subadult is believed to be 94’s Offspring. He looks very similar to 273’s offspring, but is slightly smaller.”

94 Offspring

Same bear, Oct. 5, 2017.

94 offspring

Ranger Dave: “Differences I note between this bear and 273’s offspring – ear placement, overall size (hard to tell from photos), muzzle shape.”

94’s yearling cub 2016

Lip Fisher. September 17, 2017.

Lip fisher

Lip fisher

Ranger Dave: “This is a “new” subadult that does not yet have a number. He is believed to be the male offspring of 402. Sept. 18, 2017. ”

Believed to be 402’s male offspring

Ranger Dave: “Un-numbered subadult. Believed to be 402’s female offspring. July 24, 2017. ”

Believed to be 402’s female offspring

Believed to be the same bear, Sept. 27, 2017.

402 female offspring

402 and her yearling cubs 2016

Ranger Dave: “Un-numbered subadult. Believed to be the female offspring of 504. Sept. 30, 2017. ”

Believed to be 504 female offspring

Ranger Dave: “Un-numbered subadult, believed to be the male offspring of 504. Sept. 6, 2017. ”

Believed to be 504 male offspring

“Same subadult, but with a large wound, cause unknown. Sept. 25, 2017. “

504 male offspring

504 and her yearling cubs 2016

Believed to be bear 603, he is set to be included in the 2018 bear book, pic taken on July 4 2017

Bear 603

Ranger Dave: “This is believed to be 611. He is another bear that was seen fairly often in July that I did not recognize. July 22, 2017.”

Bear 611

Ranger Anela also sent me some pictures of bear 718 who was identified last year by Ranger Leslie. She is an older sow. Description in bear database: Coat brown, patchy shed spots, shed rear. Ears tall same color as coat. Face long, lighter muzzle, droopy lips. Body medium.

Bear 718

Bear 718

Ranger Anela also sent a link to a Flickr album containing pictures of the back country trip she and Ranger Dave did in August to Crosswinds Lake, Moraine and Funnel Creek. Photos can be seen here.

Chatters were also treated with live chats from former Katmai Rangers Mike Fitz and Roy Wood. Mike Fitz’s chat can be seen here, Roy Woods can be seen here.

Last week you told us your Favorite Cam Moment. We’ve taken the top 5 moments mentioned from that list and now you can vote to select the Top Favorite Cam Moment of 2017 here.