If I Were Going...: In Search of Bear Cubs: Grand Teton National Park

Bear #399 and two of her four cubs

Grand Teton and Yellowstone are two of America’s best National Parks and they are very close to where I live. Once Caty was free to travel, she wanted to go back.

A nice time to visit

So, we planned a trip for June. Scott ended up joining us, so it was the three of us.

We took two cars – my CR-V and Scott’s truck – so that we could have more flexibility. That allowed Caty and me to conduct our trip as we would have had Scott not come and giving him the freedom to go where he wanted. We had walkie-talkies that helped keep us in touch – somewhat. It wasn't perfect, but it worked.

I have blogged about Grand Teton and Yellowstone many times before, so I will just cover the highlights of the trip. We planned this trip for early June because we really, really, really wanted to see baby Bears.

A year old, but still babies

Many of our recent trips have been later in the season, so any young ones had been larger. That is, except a few tiny Black Bears back in 2014 when Caty and I went with Scott’s mother and niece Lindsay. But, a Ranger made us leave (even though we were legally pulled over) and that sighting didn’t even make the blog.

That trip was also the first time I had seen Grizzly Bears in Grand Teton. The bears we saw were #399 and #610, which I will talk about later.

Betty, Lindsay and Caty Stevens right after seeing Grizzlies in Grand Teton

On this trip, we went to Grand Teton first because it’s just a seven-hour drive from Caty’s.

I will address Grand Teton here and my next blog post will cover Yellowstone.

Jackson Lake and the Tetons

The Dynamic Foursome

In addition to wanting to see any of this year’s youngsters (called COY – Cub of the Year), we also desperately wanted to see Bear #399 and her FOUR cubs.

Two of the four cubs

The cubs were born last year, but we hadn’t driven up to try to see them then because of the pandemic. It was photographers' circus, and I didn’t want to stand in the giant crowds.

When Scott and I went in September last year, it was still pandemic and we were not yet vaccinated, but we did end up waiting in a crowd for a long time waiting for them to appear at a regular haunt. They didn’t arrive and we didn’t get COVID. And, although we didn’t see #399, we did see lots of great bears.

September 2020 Bears

I had seen #399 back in 2014, but seeing the four cubs was the draw for this trip. This would be our last chance while they were still relatively little. But, a little more on that later.

Accommodations

We stayed at one of our go-to places: Dornan’s Spur Ranch Cabins. We like the cabins because they are spacious and have kitchens. They used to also be a good location for animals, but recently, we haven’t seen Moose in the area.

After this trip, we might opt for Colter Village – another place we have often stayed – as a first choice because of a few cool things we learned on this trip. But, you have to wait for that, too.

Dornan's and Colter Bay Village cabins

Animals and Birds

Back in the old days, you went to Grand Teton mainly for scenery, which is spectacular.

Schwabacher's Landing

Teton was a good spot for Moose, but we rarely saw Bears – Grizzly or Black – there. But, over the past two decades, more and more Bears have established themselves in the Park, which is great. Except, the presence of Bears has driven many of the Moose into the fringe areas and outside the Park.

On this trip, we saw only two Moose. The one we saw near the south entrance was interesting; she had such a short coat, she looked almost like she had been shaved.

A very close-cropped Moose

We are used to seeing some shagginess on Moose at Rocky Mountain National Park.

This RMNP Moose still has some of her winter coat

Perhaps recent hot weather had caused the Grand Teton Moose to shed her winter coats more quickly.

Enjoying some flowers for a snack

The second Moose was along the Gros Ventre River, the new popular Moose hangout. This was a male with budding antlers. He was pretty far away and deep in some willows.

Not a good Moose visit

We did see a “new” animal: the first Muskrat we had ever seen at Grand Teton.

Swimming Muskrat

This one (or maybe several) was swimming back and forth from one side of the river to a lodge on the opposite side at Oxbow Bend.

Swimming to the lodge

We could watch as it swam under the bank just below us and then it would carry twigs back to the Lodge.

Diving below the ledge

It was fun to watch.

Observers told us, first that it was an Otter; then, a Beaver. But, it was definitely a Muskrat.

That tail is distinctive for a Muskrat

When we first arrived at the Park, we went to Schwabacher’s Landing for the view …

Schwabacher's Landing

When we arrived, we noticed a fairly excited group of people looking at and photographing something. A Moose? A Bear? Nope. It was a birding group and they were looking at a Wilson’s Snipe …

A rare bird for Grand Teton

Right after I took the Snipe’s photo, I saw a few birds, but not new ones. The sightings included White-crowned Sparrow, Yellow-rumped Warblers …

Two common birds in the Tetons

… and Yellow Warblers …

Yellow Warbler

We drove Moose-Wilson Road, where we have historically seen Bear, Moose and great Birds, but this time, we didn’t see much and photographed even less. In fact, I came back with just two shots: a lone Sandhill Crane that did have a small group of admirers …

This one must have stopped while migrating

... and a Mule Deer …

We don't see Deer very often in Grand Teton

We spent the visit cruising the Park, mainly looking for Bears and Moose. On a trip up Signal Mountain, we stopped, as we always do, at a pond where the girls had seen their first Moose back in the 1990s. We haven’t seen a Moose there since, but we try. This time, we saw a Mallard mom protecting her kiddos …

At first, we didn't see the ducklings

… and a beautiful Ring-necked Duck ...

Watching us from the water lilies

On a drive up Buffalo Valley Road, we saw another large group with cameras and binoculars. What was this? It was the same birding group and the target was an Osprey nest ...

Watching from the nest

Beyond that, our only sightings were some Ground squirrels …

Uinta Ground Squirrel

... and a Coyote that we watched catch and gulp down a snack while we were staking out #399 ...

Coyote dinner

Beautiful Grand Teton

Nope, we were not seeing many animals. But, with clear skies and virtually no wind, we were getting some great vistas …

Jackson Lake from the dam

I think I mentioned that a major reason for visiting Grand Teton is the view.

June is a good time for flowers

This is a gorgeous Park ...

June is also good for waterfalls

... perhaps, one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

A lone tree makes a striking image

I have been there so many times, but am often surprised to find that I have completely missed an area.

Oxbow Bend is a place everyone knows

A few years ago, we went to Mormon Row for the first time …

Moulton Barn, Mormon Row, 2016

It took us awhile to discover Gros Ventre …

Gros Ventre River, 2020

It wasn’t until last year that we “found” Schwabacher’s Landing …

Schwabacher's Landing

Cunningham Cabin

The Cunningham Cabin

This time, we stopped at the J. P. Cunningham Cabin, one the few remaining structures from the homesteading era when settlers filed nearly 400 claims in Jackson Hole. In the 1880s, John and Margaret Cunningham staked a claim for the Bar Flying U Ranch. They built an Appalachian-style "dog-trot" cabin in 1888 and lived in it until 1895 when they finished a proper house.

The view from the dog trot

The cabin later became a smithy and barn.

Nice view for a barn

Cunningham ran a profitable ranch until drought, falling cattle prices and an agricultural depression in the 1920s forced him to consider other options. He and other ranchers recognized the valley's potential as a "playground" and they joined forces to write a petition proposing a buyout of ranches to create a National Recreation Area.

The Tetons and Jackson hole from Togwotee Pass

In 1928, Cunningham sold his land to the Snake River Land Company, which later donated 35,000 acres for Park expansion. The cabin was not torn down.

Caty in the Cunningham Cabin

The cabin was put on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

The logs look carved, but it is probably the work of worms or beetles

Success at Last!

#399 and her four cubs

Are you tired of waiting to hear about #399 and her cubs? Well, we were getting tired of looking for them.

We had learned by talking to other people that she had been making frequent appearances at an area just north of Colter Bay Village. The fact that there were cones lining the road in the narrow spaces to prevent illegal parking bore this out.

Rangers use cones to control parking; Photo: Jackson Hole Magazine, 2020

We staked the area – with hundreds of other people – one evening with no luck except the aforementioned Coyote and some information about a Fox den in Colter Bay Village.

But, the next morning, we re-joined the stakeout, stopping at the first coned-off field (yes, we were parked legally).

We had just given up and were getting ready to leave when #399 stepped out of the woods at the next area!

Out in the sunlight

Her cubs stayed in the shade tussling with each other ...

Cubs playing in the woods

... before they finally came out ...

Coming out of the woods

We whipped the cars into parking spaces that were miraculously available right across from where she was walking into the field and snapped away for about 20 minutes before they went back into the woods.

Grizzly # 399, is the most famous Brown Bear mother in the world, with her own Facebook and Twitter accounts. She has been followed by wildlife photographers and tourists for years. But, when she showed up – at age 24 – with FOUR cubs last spring, her popularity exploded.

The beautiful #399

Several decades ago, North American Brown Bears, popularly known in the lower 48 as Grizzly Bears, were assessed as being at risk of extinction. The Endangered Species Act of 1973 has resulted in a population rebound: there are now approximately 2,000 Brown Bears in the continental United States, of which about half are estimated to live in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

The road may protect the cubs

Most stay away from human populations, but some become “Road Bears,” frequenting areas where they can be seen by tourists. #399 falls into this category. Researchers have speculated that this habitat change was in response to a death of a cub in a more remote area, perhaps killed by a male Grizzly. #399 has not killed a human despite at least two known close encounters, and so has also avoided euthanasia.

Born in 1996 in Pilgrim Creek, Wyoming, #399 ranges hundreds of miles throughout the Grand Teton National Park and the Bridger-Teton National Forest.

Posing in the sunshine

Her number/name comes from being part of research conducted by the Yellowstone Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team.

In 2007, #399 appeared with her three one-year-old cubs alongside the road and became an instant international celebrity, attracting travelers from all over. Now 25, she is older than is usual for a Grizzly, because more than 85 percent of them are killed because of some kind of human activity before they reach old age.

The old girl still looks pretty good

She is said to weigh almost 400 pounds and stands upright on her hind legs at 7 feet tall. After delivering and caring for four cubs, she now looks much slimmer than 400.

A mom gets tired

#399’s fame comes primarily from her success as a mother. Her progeny comprises 20 cubs and grandcubs. She has taught her offspring habits to benefit from rather than be harmed by human proximity, such as loitering during the fall Elk hunt to consume abandoned Elk entrails and looking both ways before crossing roadways to avoid being struck by vehicles, a common cause of death among Bears.

#399 takes good care of her cubs

Despite this, she has lost half of her descendants, due to encounters with people or male bears.

Unlike the typical Bear, #399 regularly gives birth to triplets rather than twins. This typically has a paradoxical effect on the Bear population because a mother bear with three cubs expends significantly more energy in caring for them, which can potentially decrease rather than increase the survival rate. #399, conversely, has typically handled triplets well.

One of the cubs sitting in spring flowers

One of her triplets grew to also be a prolific mother (thus far the only one of her cubs to also produce cubs) and was tagged for research as Grizzly #610.

In 2011, #610 had twins while #399 had another set of triplets. The scientists observing the Bears were concerned because of #399's advanced age, but to their surprise #610 amicably adopted one of her mother's triplets.

#399 with two cubs in 2014; Photo: Caty Stevens

In 2017, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services officials removed Brown Bears from the Endangered Species List and turned management of Grizzlies outside Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks over to Wyoming, Montana and Idaho.

Graphic: StopTheGrizzHunt.org

Grizzlies live in ranges covering hundreds of miles, which can take them outside the Parks, where they would be open to hunting.

For the 2018 hunting season, Montana decided against a hunt.

Idaho, with the fewest Grizzlies, decided to allow hunting of one bear.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission approved a hunt for 22 Bears.

Some hunters said they would target #399 because, as a “famous Bear," she made “a better trophy." Because #399 hibernates outside the Park on National Forest land, she likely would have been targeted by hunters.

It is sad that she would be targeted

Graphic: Shoot 'em with a Camera

Wyoming's planned hunt met with public outcry. Five women in Jackson Hole quickly organized "Shoot'em With A Camera-Not A Gun," which encouraged opponents of trophy hunting to join the tag lottery in hopes of preventing hunters from winning tags. Approximately 7,000 people applied for Wyoming bear tags, including many well-known conservationists.

In September 2018, just weeks before hunting season was to begin, a Federal judge in Montana restored protection to all of the Bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

In July 2020, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Montana judge's ruling. Thank goodness.

This cub should be protected throughout its life

At this point, #399 is so beloved, I cannot imagine what would happen if she were shot. At 25, she should be allowed to live out her life in peace. As I said, she is quite thin – as are her cubs – so her long-term health is a bit precarious.

#399 and a cub

But, it is quite an accomplishment that she kept four cubs alive for two seasons.

The cubs seem thin, but healthy

We were so happy to see her, even though it was a short time.

Heading back into the woods

I now regret not going when the cubs were little COYs.

I wish I had seen this; Photo: Eco Adventure Tours

Foxes

We have seen Red Foxes in the late evening in past visits to Grand Teton and we have been told that Foxes are “everywhere” near Leeks Marina, but we hadn’t seen any in a couple of years.

Adult Red Fox

There are even signs asking campers and visitors not to feed the Foxes.

Foxes have become a nuisance, but they are so pretty

So, we were thrilled to learn about a den just inside the campground at Colter Bay. Apparently, the den has been in use for 11 years and this year there were three kits.

The only picture I got with all three

A cutie

Although the campground is supposed to be open only campers, photographers were allowed to come in to shoot the Foxes as long as they didn’t block traffic.

Caty and I went and, although the shadows were deep and the foliage was thick, we were able to see and photograph the adorable little family.

We were surprised that the den was a huge mound of dirt; I didn’t realize that dens were so easily identifiable.

Mama on the den

When we first arrived, other photographers told us that the Foxes had been out, but had returned to the den. We had to wait only about 15 minutes before they re-emerged.

Emerging from the den

As I mentioned, these were Red Foxes. The mother and all three kits were the traditional red morph -- what we tend to think of as how a Red Fox should look, In reality, however, Red Foxes have more than a dozen different morphs ranging from light blond to black. Almost all have the distinctive white tip on the big fluffy tail. That's one way to know it's a Red Fox.

Showing off that distinctive Red Fox tail

After they came out of the den ...

On top of the den

... they played ...

Frolicking Fox kits

... and hunted (Caty even got a photo of one with a Vole) ...

Hunting already; Photo: Caty Stevens

... and posed ...

... and played ...

Follow the leader

... and played some more ...

Playing on a log

We stayed for about 45 minutes, watching the adorable youngsters ...

So pretty

... and their pretty mom ...

A true vixen

What a treat.

Mom and a kit

Now we know to check the campground for Foxes.

Here's looking at you

Park Admission

I have mentioned in other posts that some National parks are going to reservation systems, varying from Park to Park.

Neither Yellowstone nor Grand Teton have adopted any reservation systems yet.

You need to plan ahead if you are going to visit

Because the Parks are big, both have lodging options within the Park, including hotels, cabins, camping and backcountry camping. It is difficult to get reservations for accommodations, so it is important to plan ahead. We booked this June trip in December.