If I Were Going...: Silver Salmon Creek Lodge: Crimped Ear and Her Cubs

Crimped Ear and her youngsters

As I mentioned in my last post, a highlight of visiting Silver Salmon Creek Lodge (SSCL) was seeing two this year’s Brown Bear cubs! I have been photographing Brown Bears for years and these are my first early season new cubs.

They are the offspring of Crimped Ear, a regular at SSCL and a bear we photographed on our first visit to the Lodge in 2015.

She had year-old cubs in 2015

Right after we arrived at SSCL, our guide, Dave, took us out to find Crimped Ear and it just took minutes to locate her and the adorable babies.

We settled on a log …

… and watched as they napped in the sun

After getting up ...

... walking to the water and taking a long drink …

... Crimped Ear lay down and nursed the hungry little critters

Dave said she usually doesn’t like to nurse, but tolerates this brood. Within a couple of minutes, however, she did tire of them, rolling over and walking away …

The babies were hanging on

You could see that the little ones were stuffed

But, after sniffing around the beach for a couple of minutes …

Mama took a nap while the cubs played

And, this was within an hour of our arrival!

Brown Bear Cubs

Before I talk more about our adventures with Crimped Ear and her cubs, a little about baby Brown Bears …

The mating season for Brown Bears is from mid-May to early July, shifting later the further north the Bears are found. It was just beginning when we were at SSCL: interested males and somewhat tentative females. Being serially monogamous, Brown Bears remain with the same mate from a couple of days to a couple of weeks. Outside of this narrow time frame, adult male and female Brown Bears show no interest in each other.

He was romancing; she wasn't really buying it

Males will try to mate with as many females as they can; usually a successful one mates with two females in a span of one to three weeks. Females come into estrus on average every three to four years and will mate with up to four, rarely even eight, males while in heat. Paternity DNA tests have shown that up to 29 percent of litters do not share the same father.

Full or half siblings?

Through the process of delayed implantation, a female's fertilized egg divides and floats freely in the uterus for six months. If the mother does not gain enough weight to survive through the winter while gestating, the embryo does not implant and is reabsorbed into the body. But, if she is healthy and fat, the fetus will attach to the uterine wall during winter dormancy. The cubs are born eight weeks later while the mother sleeps.

There have been cases of Brown Bears with as many as six cubs, although the average litter size is one to three. At birth, the cubs are blind, toothless and hairless and weigh about a pound. They feed on their mother's milk until spring or even early summer, depending on climate conditions.

They continue to sporadically nurse all summer

When the cubs weigh 15 to 20 lbs. and can follow their mother over long distances, they begin to forage for their own solid food.

These babies can dig their own clams

Occasionally, a female will adopt stray cubs or even kidnap another Bear’s cubs when they emerge from hibernation (usually a larger female taking a smaller one’s offspring).

Males take no part in raising cubs. The cubs are fully dependent on the mother and a close bond is formed. During the dependency stage, the cubs learn (rather than inherit as instincts from birth) survival techniques, such as which foods have the highest nutritional value and where to obtain them; how to hunt, fish and defend themselves; and where to den. Cubs learn by following and imitating their mother's actions.

Crimped Ear educating her cub

Cubs remain with their mother for an average of 2.5 years, uncommonly being independent as early as 1.5 years of age or as late as 4.5 years of age.

Little Davy is still with his mom

Sensing danger

Mother Bears must be constantly on their guard because male Brown Bears will kill cubs to bring the female into estrus so that they can mate. A female whose cub has died will often be ready to mate within two to four days after the death.

We saw Crimped Ear stand up frequently while we were photographing her. She was never reacting to us, even though we were traveling in a loud ATV.

Every time she stood, she was watching a boar – all of which were much farther away than us.

Cubs flee up a tree, if available, when they see a strange male bear and the mother often successfully defends them, even though the male may be twice as heavy as she. Females have been known to die in these confrontations.

A watchful mom

Crimped Ear routinely sleeps in a tree with her cubs, knowing that big males seldom climb.

A male chased Little Davy up a tree

Just like human children, cubs have different personalities. I quickly noticed that one of the cubs was much more adventurous than the other …

Often venturing farther from mom

… frequently standing …

… and often initiating play with its more docile sibling ...

On our visit, we spent most of our time photographing Crimped Ear and her cubs. I took 2,500 photos the first day!

A special target

Bears on the Beach

When the tide was out, Crimped Ear seemed to prefer the beach, most likely because she had already taught the young‘uns to dig for clams …

This cub seems proud of itself

… and because the wide-open vista made it possible for her to see approaching Bears from a great distance …

Always watchful

It was fun to watch the interaction between mom and cubs as they foraged the beach …

She tried to keep them close

The feisty one liked to threaten Gulls, but only when mom was close

While Crimped Ear concentrated on clamming …

... her cubs ran …

... danced ...

... played in the water ...

... ate (look at those claws!) ...

... and were generally adorable

When the tide started to come in, Crimped Ear led them through the water to higher ground …

Swimming and walking back to the field

Bears in the Field

We also spent a fair amount of time watching Crimped Ear and the cubs in the deep sedge grass …

Mama and babies

... where they played ...

... munched on flowers ...

... posed ...

... made faces ...

... ran ...

... and crossed the slough

One of the coolest things to watch was how devoted Crimped Ear was as a mother…

She stood close to her babies

She looked out for danger

She even cuddled them

Bears in Between

From time to time, we watched the trio as they moved over the berm between the field and the beach.

In front of the berm

Every time Crimped Ear planned to move from one place to another, she carefully scoped out the scene to make sure it was safe to take her precious babies.

Looking behind and ahead

Of course, every time she moved, we had to get in the ATV and travel the long way around to see what they were up to.

The ATVs couldn't manage the terrain the way she could

Well, some of the time. We weren’t horrible. We realized that mother Bears are hyper protective and that baby Bears need time to develop as wild animals. So, we did move away after watching Crimped Ear and the cubs for a while so that they could go about their lives in nature without a gaggle of people watching them. I mean, there were other Bears to watch (plus, from time to time, we had to eat and sleep).