A black bear (Ursus americanus) walking along the trail near Leigh Lake in Grand Teton National Park. It was one of two black bears I saw along the trail that afternoon.
Seems to me that people who live near Yellowstone aren't as lucky seeing bears so close.
It is funny that you should mention that. We only saw one bear while in Yellowstone, a grizzly, and that was at a distance (it was walking near the treeline in Hayden Valley near Grizzly Lookout). In the Tetons, by contrast, we saw three black bears which all were within at least 20 feet of the trails (and then two of them actually started walking along the trails).
This probably has to do with our timing and the habitat. The openings in the trees created by the paths allow more sunlight down and seem to foster a lot of berry-producing bushes. (There were lots of huckleberries along these trails.) There were also a lot of ants both in the ground and in rotting logs, so it seems that by cutting trails through the woods in the Tetons the parks have made prime black bear habitat.
Seems to me that people who live near Yellowstone aren't as lucky seeing bears so close.
It is funny that you should mention that. We only saw one bear while in Yellowstone, a grizzly, and that was at a distance (it was walking near the treeline in Hayden Valley near Grizzly Lookout). In the Tetons, by contrast, we saw three black bears which all were within at least 20 feet of the trails (and then two of them actually started walking along the trails).
This probably has to do with our timing and the habitat. The openings in the trees created by the paths allow more sunlight down and seem to foster a lot of berry-producing bushes. (There were lots of huckleberries along these trails.) There were also a lot of ants both in the ground and in rotting logs, so it seems that by cutting trails through the woods in the Tetons the parks have made prime black bear habitat.