Posted by Bob Lefebvre
Despite living in Calgary for thirty years, up until this spring I had never seen a Grizzly Bear. I had never gone looking for them specifically, but I do sometimes get out of the city and into the foothills and mountains, so this was becoming a nemesis mammal for me. In early June as we were driving west out of the city to do a bird survey on the Livingstone Ranch Golf Course, we spotted a young Grizzly in a field opposite Calaway Park, just outside the city limits. This was an unusual place to see one, and since we were driving at 100 km/hr, not a very satisfying sighting.
On July 24 I went for a drive on Highway 40 through Kananaskis Country, and just north of Highwood Pass spotted this bear, feeding on berries at close range.
Bear 104, Kananaskis Country, July 24, 2016.
The bears in this busy area are carefully monitored and are tagged and tracked .
I spent about forty-five minutes watching this bear as it fed.
Showing the claws:
And the tongue:
And a little wet after wallowing in a small stream:
