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Grizzlies 399, 610 and their cubs look as cute as teddy bears in the thousands of photos park visitors have taken of them in recent years. They have their own Facebook pages and bumper stickers.

Yet they are meat-eating predators, a reality we often overlook. This video, best watched in full screen, ought to keep a few tourists from approaching too close.

Thank you to all of you for loyally checking this site in the last few weeks, thinking perhaps today might be the day something new replaces the April snow story. As I explained earlier in a comment, I was out of town (for Jazz Fest), then returned to an onslaught of budget meetings and Lodging Overlay discussions. Also, we have begun running the river at Barker-Ewing Scenic Trips.

To top it off, a faulty plugin caused this site to crash (for me, if not you), preventing the posting of anything new when I did have time. At 2 a.m. today, after much consultation with the hosting service, I finally resolved the problem.

Like a hungry bruin emerging from the den, I’m ready to sink my teeth into writing again. Thanks for your patience and input. Here’s to much excitement in the coming weeks!

(Photo by Greg Winston; video via Deadspin)

Posted under Environment, From the Publisher

Tags: bears, grand teton national park, photography, wildlife

To the chagrin of many cyclists, the Highway 89 pathway north of town along the National Elk Refuge is closed until April 30.

The closure is part of the deal Teton County arranged with the refuge to build the pathway in 2011. Despite a recent plea by cycling advocate Tim Young to open the path early, the refuge is sticking to the specified dates.

The path offers a velvety-smooth ride 10 miles to Moose and another 8 miles to Jenny Lake in Grand Teton National Park. Only the portion along the refuge, between Jackson and Gros Ventre Junction, is closed from Oct. 1 to April 30 each year; the park sections presumably are rideable when free of snow.

Although it may seem aggravating and bureaucracy at its worst, there is a rationale behind the closure. To better explain it, county pathways coordinator Brian Schilling provided the following list of frequently asked questions. The bottom line: Be patient, people, and let the refuge finish studying impacts.

Read More…

Posted under County Government, Environment, Politics, Sports

Tags: cycling, elk, grand teton national park, wildlife

A week after a family of mountain lions devoured an unfortunately named black Lab, canines have struck back.

A pack of five coyotes chased a pair of mountain lion kittens onto a buck-and-rail fence Thursday evening on the National Elk Refuge. Staff from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service photographed the standoff, which lasted more than an hour. One cat ran away with the coyotes in pursuit, while the other hid in the grass as darkness fell.

The photos, posted in an online gallery and widely shared, had been viewed nearly two million times as of this afternoon.

The kittens appeared to have survived the encounter, as refuge staff spotted both Saturday. The whereabouts of the mother reportedly were unknown.

(Photo by Lori Iverson/USFWS)

Posted under Environment

Tags: mountain lions, wildlife

Following a three-month investigation by Grand Teton National Park, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has decided not to press charges against three hunters who shot and killed a grizzly bear on Thanksgiving morning.

The investigation found that the hunters — David Trembly, 48, of Dubois, and his two sons, ages 20 and 17 — hit the bear with bullets and pepper spray “at nearly the same instant,” according to a park release. The report, made in consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, concludes the three acted in self-defense, and the encounter lasted fewer than 10 seconds.

The bear was a male, estimated to be 18 to 20 years old, and weighed 534 pounds. It had been feeding on an elk carcass nearby and likely was defending its food, biologists said.

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Posted under Crime, Environment, Politics, Sports

Tags: bears, grand teton national park, hunting, snake river, wildlife

The killing of a grizzly bear in Grand Teton National Park on Thanksgiving morning has federal officials under fire for continuing to allow the controversial elk hunt.

The incident was the third conflict in little over a year between hunters and grizzly bears in the Snake River bottom near Schwabacher’s Landing. In October 2011, a Jackson hunter was mauled by a griz but survived, and in October of this year a hunter from Cody lost his elk carcass to a family of four bears.

The killing, which came after the bear charged a man and his two sons, is the first ever by a hunter inside the park. Grand Teton is one of only a few national parks to allow hunting; known by the euphemism “elk reduction program,” the hunt was part of a compromise worked out to expand the preserve in 1950.

As grizzlies, protected under the Endangered Species Act, have pushed farther and farther south from Yellowstone in recent years, critics have called on the park to end the program, especially in the river bottom. Jackson resident Aaron Feuerstein has started a petition at change.org asking the federal government to stop the hunt. The petition had 81 signatures as of this morning.

(Photo by Sue Cedarholm)

Posted under Deaths, Environment, Politics, Sports

Tags: bears, grand teton national park, hunting, wildlife