Most animals show themselves sparingly. The grizzly bear is six to eight hundred pounds of smugness. It has no need to hide. If it were a person, it would laugh loudly in quiet restaurants, boastfully wear the wrong clothes for special occasions, and probably play hockey.

~Craig Childs

People have reported seeing grizzlies coming out of hibernation the past few weeks. I kept looking in the usual spots each time I went into the park – along the treeline in Lamar Valley, high up on the meadows above the valley floor, near carcasses, but no luck until last evening. It was cold and windy and had snowed overnight into the morning so I wasn’t planning on going into the park. But then the sun poked through the clouds mid-afternoon so I loaded up the gear and headed out. A few hundred elk greeted me near the park entrance along with a nice herd of pronghorn. Bison were abundant in many spots and there were the most pronghorn out in Lamar Valley I have seen this spring. A flock of about 20 mountain bluebirds flew over the road, some hovering in the wind before dropping to the ground (I have never seen a flock that large). A couple of coyotes were hunting through the sagebrush reminding me how difficult it can be to spot them now that the snow is mostly gone. So, a typical afternoon in the park but nothing extraordinary. And then I came around a curve and saw a dozen vehicles pulled off the road along with a ranger’s car. I figured it must be a bear.

Indeed it was – a nice grizzly. It is probably the one I have heard described as the “Junction Butte bear” since it has been seen digging and turning over rocks on the slopes of nearby Junction Butte. The bear was below the butte and fairly close to the road near the new bridge. The park ranger was there to make sure everyone behaved and I am happy to say everyone was respectful and gave the bear plenty of space.

They say this is a five year old female grizzly. Grizzly females typically have their first litter of young between the ages of 4 to 6. They may have 1 to 4 (rarely) young every 2 to 3 years after that until they are in their 20’s. If she stays in the area through the mating season we may see large boar grizzles following her around hoping for a chance to mate.

A small group of us watched her as she grazed on grasses and other vegetation. She has been seen in this area for about a week and is probably very hungry after spending a few months hibernating. She wandered a little closer so I put up the camera and headed to the car. I turned and looked and she started to head back up slope toward Junction Butte for the night. Here’s hoping she has a peaceful summer and continues to provide joy to visitors wanting to see a Yellowstone grizzly.

Here’s a short clip showing her ambling towards us as she grazed. Images were taken with a telephoto lens and cropped. Be sure to view full screen.

–My first grizzly of the season. Check out those claws!