May 11 Beryl Spring Bear with Cubs, Wolves

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karenandbill
Posts: 208
Joined: Thu Apr 30, 2020 10:55 am

May 11 Beryl Spring Bear with Cubs, Wolves

Post by karenandbill »

We went into Yellowstone with several families who had never seen bears or wolves before. There were 4 early teenage kids along so we were hopeful to see wolves and bears. The park did not disappoint.

We left rather late so the odds were not as good if we had left earlier. Just missed a black bear at the Yellowstone Bridge heading towards Lamar. As we came to the Slough Creek area there were cars off to the side but no active lookers. There are two den sites for the Junction Buttes this year. We were looking south of the road but the wolves were bedded. So we went to the original den site off of the Slough Campground Road. They closed the road for some reason so we set up the scope where we could. There was no activity that we could see. We then headed through Lamar. Lots of Bison and pronghorn but that was it.

On our way back we stopped again at the south den site lookout and wolves had just been seen along with grizzlies in a different direction. With the help of a wolf watcher I was finally able to get my scope on the female mother sitting outside the den. The kids were thrilled as they had gotten a look at the bears through the scope of a kind gentleman and now got to see the wolf. So with that out of the way we were able to relax and just enjoy the rest of day.

On our way back from Mammoth one of the 3 year old grizzlies who had been raised around Roaring Mountain was feeding not too far off the road and we were able to get some decent shots and the kids could clearly see the bear.

ImageDSC_0073 by William Reinke, on Flickr

ImageDSC_0034 (1) by William Reinke, on Flickr

Heading further south we passed Beryl Spring and then there were cars off the road with people bending down looking through the pines across the river. Could it be the Beryl Spring Sow? We pulled off and sure enough. She was hard to see but we could see well enough to know it was her with twin cubs just behind.

Only one cub visible in this shot
ImageDSC_0092 by William Reinke, on Flickr

ImageDSC_0096 (1) by William Reinke, on Flickr

ImageDSC_0101 by William Reinke, on Flickr

We had not seen her for a couple of years and I was just saying that to Karen on our last trip in. So good to see her back, looking big and healthy.

One note of concern. The northern section of the park looks really dry for this time of year. The Lamar River is flowing like it does in August. The ponds are half empty. Phantom Lake has one small puddle and that has just recently happened. Before that it was dry. The western part of the park looks fairly normal, but it is dry out here in Island park. There is some snow on the mountains, but it does not have the depth as in the past.

On the bright side there have been several days with rain and/or snow so far in May. But it has been patchy and not very much moisture in total. We are praying for some good rains over the next weeks and into the summer. Tetons look very dry as well.



Nikon_nerd
Posts: 117
Joined: Tue Jul 25, 2017 4:06 pm

Re: May 11 Beryl Spring Bear with Cubs, Wolves

Post by Nikon_nerd »

KarenandBill,

Thank you so much for posting about the Beryl sow and her cubs. She is our favorite bear. We came to the park this year in late April, but were not able to see her. Our last trip to Yellowstone was three years ago, and we did not see her that year either. We have been so worried about her. Thank you for your pictures and your text letting us know she is still alive and had COY's for this year. Please take and post more pictures of her when you get a chance. We have seen a few others pictures of her COY's and they are so beautiful.

Cheers!

N. N.



karenandbill
Posts: 208
Joined: Thu Apr 30, 2020 10:55 am

Re: May 11 Beryl Spring Bear with Cubs, Wolves

Post by karenandbill »

Hey NN,

Glad you were able to make it to the park this year. How about a trip report and some photos? We would love to hear about your trip.

We will let you know if we see her again. With the price of gas we are not going into the park as often as previous years, but we are planning on going in tomorrow. We will post if we see anything significant.

Good to hear from you and hope all is well.

--Bill



RikWriter
Posts: 483
Joined: Tue Jul 25, 2017 8:36 pm

Re: May 11 Beryl Spring Bear with Cubs, Wolves

Post by RikWriter »

I got a bunch of pics of Beryl and her cubs. Sorry I haven't done any more trip reports, but I was exhausted the last few days and actually went home early.



karenandbill
Posts: 208
Joined: Thu Apr 30, 2020 10:55 am

Re: May 11 Beryl Spring Bear with Cubs, Wolves

Post by karenandbill »

We're looking forward to seeing your pictures when you get a chance to post them.



Nikon_nerd
Posts: 117
Joined: Tue Jul 25, 2017 4:06 pm

Re: May 11 Beryl Spring Bear with Cubs, Wolves

Post by Nikon_nerd »

karenandbill wrote:
Sat May 14, 2022 8:33 pm
Hey NN,

Glad you were able to make it to the park this year. How about a trip report and some photos? We would love to hear about your trip.

We will let you know if we see her again. With the price of gas we are not going into the park as often as previous years, but we are planning on going in tomorrow. We will post if we see anything significant.

Good to hear from you and hope all is well.

--Bill
Planning to post some photos soon, but I took so many it's taking awhile to sort through them all. Hope to get some up in a few days.



Dorothy
Posts: 201
Joined: Sat Jul 29, 2017 7:45 pm

Re: May 11 Beryl Spring Bear with Cubs, Wolves

Post by Dorothy »

Where is the best place to look for her? We've looked earnestly for the past several years trying to get a glimpse of Beryl but have never spotted her.

Thanks so much for this report and the photos. It makes me SO hungry to get there!



karenandbill
Posts: 208
Joined: Thu Apr 30, 2020 10:55 am

Re: May 11 Beryl Spring Bear with Cubs, Wolves

Post by karenandbill »

Dorothy wrote:
Thu May 26, 2022 10:38 pm
Where is the best place to look for her? We've looked earnestly for the past several years trying to get a glimpse of Beryl but have never spotted her.
We have seen her from about a mile south of Beryl Spring to the south and east end of Gibbon Meadow. She disappears a week or two after she is first spotted in spring. So she does not hang around long. I have also seen her twice in the fall, once right on the Monument Geyser trail. I just had someone post to my Flickr account that she lost her cubs. Not sure if that's true.



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