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. Brought to you by your bear cam Mods, LaniH and GABear.
The lip seemed the place to fish this past week. Along with our regular lip fishers 409 Beadnose, 775 Lefty, 804, and 128 Grazer, we had some new bears try their paw at fishing the lip. Two new, as of yet unidentified, boars and a couple of subadults fished the lip as well.
A very crowded lip
One of the new boars slipped off the lip and dropped into the jacuzzi with 856. Video can be seen here.
unknown boar and 856
The unknown boar wasn’t the only one to slip and fall off the lip, both 409 Beadnose and 804 took tumbles off the lip, bear 804 actually fell off twice.
409 Beadnose slips off the lip
804 slips off the lip
Along with the above mentioned activity on the lip of the falls, bear 274 Overflow added to the viewing fun. First, we observed his attempt to pirate salmon from the successful lip fishing bears by climbing UP the falls from below
274 Overflow climbs the falls to beg from 409 Beadnose
Once there he sat right down and waited for an opportunity to pirate a fish or grab the scraps. When this effort was unsuccessful, 274 returned to the lower falls…. By climbing back down backwards!
274 Overflow was not finished with his exploits on the lip yet. In another attempt to navigate the fishing on the lip, and apparently in an effort to give new meaning to his name, he body surfed (Overflowed) off the falls face first! Video can be seen here. This clip is destined to become one of the top Bear Cam Highlights for sure! (Hey Overflow, it’s okay to just walk around and come down from the falls like the other bears, LOL)
274 Overflow slips and slides off the lip
The Underwater Cam provided great views this week of thousands of salmon pooling up before heading upriver. It also gave us some fun, close up views of bears passing by. Video can be seen here. And also a memorable view of a cub swimming while hanging on to his fish
One of 435 Holly’s yearlings swimming with a salmon in their mouth
On July 8, we noticed a small mound of dirt and gravel on the spit, and sub adult bear(s) digging around in it. There was speculation on what it could be and some thought that it could be a cache. Mike Fitz was able to investigate from the other side of the spit and provide some possible explanations for what we saw:
Subadult on the spit burying a salmon
“Although I can’t say for sure without digging in it myself or further observations, this pile of gravel appears to be too small to contain a dead bear. Not long ago, some cam viewers saw the young bear pull a fish out of it.” Read Mike’s full comment here.
And this is where I keep my spare fish
Bears 503 and 719 we’re observed together on July 10 during a live play by play broadcast. Seeing these two together is of interest to many because of their unique history. 435 Holly, the biological mother of 719, adopted 503 when he was abandoned by his mother as a yearling. Read their story here, and here. Both were emancipated in the spring of 2016, so it’s interesting that they still seem to have a tolerance for being in close proximity to each other. During their time on the cams, 503 allowed 719 to approach almost nose to nose with him as he ate a salmon. He ate only the parts he wanted and discarded the rest and 719 was able to easily grab the discards.
503 and 719 in the jacuzzi
During a live play by play at the falls with Mike Fitz and Ranger Andrew on July 11, we observed an large, unknown boar arrive at the falls. He entered the frame with a bang, running and attacking 274 Overflow. 856 then left the jacuzzi to confront him.
856 confronts 32 Chunk
Unknown bear came up on the path under the platform and considered scent marking the broken limb near the platform. As 856 slowly followed, the bear went into the tall grasses next to the platform and continued a display of cowboy walking and scent marking. 856 was also cowboy walking and scent marking while following a bit behind.
856 watching 32 Chunk scent mark tree
When the unknown bear stood to scent mark a tree and the cam zoomed close, Mike said that he didn’t yet recognize him. The second time he stood, Mike said the shed patterns and facial profiles matched for it to be 32 Chunk!! Next we saw 32 Chunk grabbing and breaking branches from a tree.
32 Chunk breaking tree branch in demonstration of dominance
LaniH: During the whole interaction I was on the edge of my seat waiting for something to happen, neither bear was giving in or showing any kind of subservience. 32 showing all sorts of dominance displays, when he broke the branch and we heard it crack it really showed the power of these animals. 856 didn’t really take his eyes off 32, he watched his every move. Chat was holding their collective breath during this whole display, just waiting to see if they would indeed have a physical confrontation.
GABear: What an exciting thing to get to observe while having the live explanation from Mike and Ranger Andrew! When Mike announced that he believed the bear was 32, I imagined jaws dropping all around the world as viewers took in this info. I think I heard screaming and cheering! 32 Chunk has been the most asked about missing bear for weeks! I was riveted and holding my breath wondering if there would be a further confrontation.
LaniH: Then 856 climbed the fish ladder to “mark” his own tree as if to say “oh yeah watch this”. When 32 Chunk reentered the river 856 still sat on the fish ladder, 32 walked under the platform and went to the island and did a cowboy walk across it. 856 then entered the river from top of the fish ladder, and was very focused on 32, Andrew said “laser beam focus”, 856 had his ears forward and was walking very fast to the island where he did his dominance display of his own, cowboy walking and rubbing the tree. They followed each other into the riffles and off cam. We certainly have not seen the end of this story between these two powerful dominant bears.
GABear: I’ve been waiting since last season to see what would happen between 32 Chunk and 856 since 856 appeared injured and absent a good deal last year and 32 Chunk seemed to be trying to become the most dominant bear. This is a fascinating development and I can’t wait to view the two of them on camera going forward to see how it plays out.
856 watching 32 Chunk on the island, both bears disappeared of the river bank in the riffles
Video of the encounter can be seen here, fast forward to 40 minutes in for the start of the encounter of 856 and 32 Chunk. Here are a few video highlights of the week gathered into one video.
We had a couple of live chats this past week also. Mike Fitz and Ranger Russ discussed bear hierarchy which can be viewed here. Ranger Andrew and Mike Fitz talked about fishing techniques which can be seen here. Mike Fitz also has a new blog out about hiking Dumpling Mtn. you can read it here.
We had a few more PBP’s this week also, July 9th can be viewed here, and July 10th can be viewed here.
“100 years of Administrative History at Katmai National Park and Preserve”
Katmai came into existence with a bang, but did you know that the park itself wasn’t directly managed for many years? From the first rangers, to historic fisheries, to the reason Katmai was created, Katie Myers will speak on a century of preservation and management. Video can be viewed here.
