Cody Redmon - Photoblog

It’s impossible to drive through Yellowstone without seeing some type of wildlife, as was the case yesterday on my way home from Jackson. Along with the standard buffalo, elk and deer, this bear was foraging beside the road near Upper Terrace. Despite being brown in color, it is a black bear and weighed only about 175-225 pounds. As is so unbelievably common, some tourists had gotten out of their cars and were standing about 30 or 40 feet from the critter, who was undoubtedly hungry after a long winter’s hibernation. Black bears are smaller and typically less aggressive than their ‘grizzled’ cousins, but you just don’t walk up to any bear, ever. It was one of those moments when you’re just waiting for something to go wrong, but fortunately a park ranger showed up and ordered everyone into their cars. What is it that they say, “Either brave or stupid…”?

I was once in Destruction Bay, Yukon, when a guy got out of his car and approached to within 25 feet of a 600-700 pound grizzly bear to take a photo. The bear acted uninterested until the man finished and turned his back to return to his car. Innately programmed to chase fleeing food, the animal’s eyes suddenly narrowed to slits and its shoulders hunched forward as it crouched to spring on an easy target. I was maybe 10 feet away in a truck, right next to that bear and I could see death plainly in its eyes. I couldn’t breathe, I just sat there in the most utter of silences fearing that any sound or movement of my own might tip the balance toward chaos. Luckily for this fellow, the driver of the car he was traveling in had gotten stuck in the soft shoulder and had begun revving the engine and the entrapped rear tire was kicking up a cloud of dust and rocks. The commotion was enough to distract the bear and allow the guy to return safely to the vehicle and his awaiting accomplice in “Precisely What Not To Do In Wilderness Safety’”. I doubt he’ll ever know what that photo nearly cost him, and I doubt I’ll ever forget it.