We’ve been home at The Holler for a couple of weeks now. The highlight of the trip was spending time with Mamma Griz and her Mini-me!
Thought you might like to see some more photos of them.
Here they are surveying their vast domain.
It’s mini see, mini do, with these two!
I have never seen such perfectly executed mimicry. Mini is learning how to be a bear.
They live in an awful pretty place,
and they are a awfully handsome pair!
Cheers to you from Mama Griz and Mini-me in their mountain lair~
Note: If you didn’t see the other photos of Mama Griz & Mini-me check out:
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Cool photos. What type of lens do have to get so close to the bears?
I use the Sony HX400 with a 1200mm equivalent zoom.
OK. I use Olympus gear and my “biggest” lens is the equivalent of 600mm so you do have a bit more reach with your 1200mm equivalent. Still, it’s the photographer, not the equipment and you always get great shots.
Ohhhh, that is so nice. Thank you sincerely & cheers~
What beautiful creatures. My favorite pic is the face-forward one of Mamma-Griz. She’s lovely.
She just blew me away. She is such a powerful creature and so gentle and such a good teacher with her cub. I can’t even imagine anyone killing creatures like this for fun.
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Lovely, Cindy. Those Grizzlies can be very feisty.
Leslie
So I have heard, but thankfully, everytime I’ve seen them, they’ve been on their best behavior!
Don’t run – that’s for sure.
Leslie
That’s funny I was going to do a post on this male baboon in Africa who chased me and that was definitely the dominant message in my brain. I didn’t run, but I sure backed up fast! 😉 😉
Back up slowly and smile, Cindy. Chuckle.
Leslie
Laughing, yeah! <3
So beautiful and so sweet. I am so disgusted as Florida apparently had a bear hunt but had to cancel it after two days because too many bears were just being massacred. I can’t even begin to print the thoughts I’m having about this. Sorry, I digress. I adore your photos.
I know, I know, just how you are feeling. I just get madder and sadder at the inability of people to learn to protect our wild creatures and places. What did they do kill a hundrd black bears? Why must we continue to be so harmful and so stupid? Do they even know how wonderful black bears are? How tight the family bonds are? We could learn so much from watching wild creatures, but we’d have to stop killing them first.
I am so sorry. I know just how you feel.
😥 😡
<3
They are beautiful.
Thank you on their behalf! They truly are.
Their fur looks so thick and healthy – must be due to the pristine environment that yields plenty. What I keep seeing are those claws! Must be my primal fear! 😉
They are impressive claws aren’t they! Mini-me has a nice set growing as well.
Awesome Cindy 🙂
Awww, so pleased you think so my friend~ <3
They look as thought they’re posing for you! A mama’s love for her cub….beautiful
Yes, Mama just blew me away, so gentle and so patient. She was fine with us there, but this group of people came on the trail with a dog. I warned them not to proceed due to mama and cub, but they loped ahead. I watch mama and cub charge them. Then mama hid behind a bush, (I took a photo) and baby disappeared. They were afraid of the people. They have good reason to be. Much more reason than we have to fear them.
The obviously sensed you were not there to harm them. People just don’t think, or don’t care 🙁
Yes, I think you are right on both counts.
Cute, probably is not the correct word for Grizzly Bears, but I still think they are cute in these pictures:-) Don’t they live in a beautiful place!
They are cute, beautiful, amazing, every adjective I can think of. Cute works well for me. That cub was completely cute! <3
So beautiful. Thank you for sharing! Blessings and peace,
Visa versa 2 U X 2! <3
😁
Such beautiful and perfect captures!
Awww, thank you my friend!
They are cute, Cindy. 🙂
Yay!!! I am so happy you think they are cute Ranu!! <3
Wonderful post. Great shots. You took us there – – – thanks.
Ahhh, it wouldn’t be the same without you Wally. I know how much you love our wild spaces. <3
Wow! These are stunning! STUNNING.
Thank you on behalf of the grizzlies. They still give me goosebumps, they are so magnificent.
Yes! I can understand that for sure. We only have black bears close by but I find them amazing. Peace.
I love black bears too and saw a lot of them this trip too. My son got a bunch of wild life cam photos of a black bear sow, cubs, males a whole group of them in NoCaly, amazing!
So, so cool!
<3
You outdid yourself with these pictures. They are wonderful. Great job~!
I am so glad you like them! Grizzlies need people to like them and want to protect them. <3
Great shots, and what a beautiful, tranquil site. Thanks for sharing
Thank you more for appreciating!
Oh, they should sing the song of the movie: “mini-me: you complete me!” D:
Man, that would make a great sound track! Laughing……
such amazing photos! Heading to Canada later this year, my dream is to some bears in the wild.
Where are you going? We saw a lot of grizzlies in the Knight Inlet in BC and are going back next year to spend more nights and see more!! Love them!
Great photos. Bears are such interesting animals.
I think sometimes people don’t like them because they misunderstand them.
Just the bear necessities. 🙂
The simple bear necessesities of life…. I agree with Baloo! <3
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Beautiful bears. I’ve read stories of rare Grizzly-Polar Bear hybridization in the Canadian Arctic. Apparently, some male Grizz will occasionally venture outside their Alaskan range and encounter female Polar Bears.
Really? I have not heard that. I will google it and see what’s up. Fascinating…..
Here’s one from a couple of years ago: http://www.newsminer.com/features/sundays/alaska_science_forum/hybrid-grizzly-polar-bear-a-curiosity/article_92f5a5d6-9e8c-11e2-b0e4-0019bb30f31a.html
I knew marine mammals do this, there are Wolphins, and land mammals like Ligers. There are a lot of mammal hybrids, but most are a result of captivity. But this is remarkable, because it occurred in the wild with two at risk species. Most hybrids can’t reproduce. But apparently these two might be able too.
“In 1936, a male polar bear accidentally got into an enclosure with a female Kodiak (Alaskan brown) bear at the U.S. National Zoo, resulting in three hybrid offspring. One hybrid was named Willy Wonka and grew into an immense specimen. The hybrid offspring were fertile and able to breed successfully with each other, indicating that the two species of bear are closely related. The Kodiak is also considered by many to be a variant or subspecies of the basic Arctic brown bear.”
Totally unknown to me. If grizzlies could mate with polar bears, both species could survive, adapted….
until some gun nut killed them.
Still, it is hopeful.
“A grizzly–polar bear hybrid (also pizzly bear, polizzly, prizzly bear, nanulak, Polar-Grizz[citation needed], or grolar bear[1][2]) is a rare ursid hybrid that has occurred both in captivity and in the wild. In 2006, the occurrence of this hybrid in nature was confirmed by testing the DNA of a strange-looking bear that had been shot near Sachs Harbour, Northwest Territories on Banks Island in the Canadian Arctic.[3]”
Source: Wiki
Thank you so much for telling me about this.
Beautiful shots of these two lovelies and where they live Cindy. They are so gorgeous! What a lovely place they live in as well. Thanks for sharing. 😀
Thank you more for appreciating the magnificent grizzlies. <3
Beary impressive! ʕ ∗ •́ ڡ •̀ ∗ ʔ
They love you beary much!
And so do I~
ʕ ∗ •́ ڡ •̀ ∗ ʔ
Aww..that’s so sweet! Thanks!
_へ__(‾◡◝ )>
<3
This Grizzly encore made my day Cindy! So nice to see them enjoying a serene, peaceful day – as all bears and wildlife should be allowed to do so! I noticed the comments on the black bear massacre in Florida above and that incident is in my thoughts as well. Hope we can put an end to that. 🙁
Welcome home Cindy! ~Lynn
So good always to hear from you Lynn especially as I go to bed. It is always so good to have someone who knows a lot and understands.
Sleep well my friend. <3
What a privilege to see this duo in their environment. Those folks with the dog were rather ignorant, to put it mildly.
Bears so rarely bother humans. When they do, it can be bad luck, ie., both suprising each other on a trail, which is why your are supposed to never walk alone. Sometimes though, people push their luck, get too close to the bear and frighten it, which is what happened with these people and their dog. I watched the whole thing unfold, you could tell it was a warning charge, not intending to harm, and you could tell mama bear was frightened for her cub. In other words, it was completely avoidable. Respecting a wild animal’s space seems to me to be the most important thing.
Absolutely gorgeous photographs. Than you so much for posting them. Beautiful bears and landscape.
Thank you more for appreciated our wonderful wild grizzlies. Can you imagine a world without them?
Reblogged this on Coalition for American Wildbirds.
Gratitude for your advocacy for all the wild creatures Sharon~ <3
oh, that’s sweet! great pictures!
There is a definite sweetness in the familial bonds amongst wild animals.
Thank you, the subjects made the photos. Love them~ <3
Fanstastische Aufnahmen in einer schönen Naturlandschaft
Danke, dass du mein lieber Freund Ernst!
Reblogged this on Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life and commented:
Before I get into my own posts this morning I wanted to share this fabulous collection of photographs of a mother and baby bear by Cindy Knoke.. Nature at its best.
So grateful for your support of our remarkable wild grizzlies!
Cindy you lucky thing, what an honour to see the mumma and baby bear together. 🙂
Yes, it was both those things exactly! Lucky and an incredible honor! Thanks for knowing this~
I love those bears! They are so cute! I love how the baby is copying his mama to a T! Adorable! Hugz Lisa and Bear
You can actually see with your own eyes the intensity of the bonding between mother and cub. It is beautiful~
That would be so awesome to see them in person. I love your nature photos so much
Awwww, thanks and hugs to you guys!
A wonderful pair!
They are so worthy of our protection!
Presenting this wonderful and most natural face of bears may give people an opportunity to see the real, gentle, and not so threatening side of these beautiful creatures. Unfortunately, they are considered a nuisance in Florida and open season for hunting them was declared. What a shame!
Yes, I have been seeing bears all my life, since I was a little kid. I remember counting them as a child and keeping records of the numbers. Sadly we can no longer do this as there aren’t enough left to count. I don’t understand the intensity of some people’s fear of them. Thank you for seeing and remarking on the gentle beauty of the mighty grizzly and her cub in her natural world. <3
Mama and mini me are so sweet together. What a gorgeous place for them to live…Glacier National Park is on my vacation list. When we were in Yellowstone last year I hoped to spot a ear but never did. You hit the jackpot! Thanks for sharing your beautiful photos, Cindy.
I highly recommend Glacier in early September as the bears are down low stuffing themselves on grass in preparation for the long winter.
Great shots, I just hope they were taken from a very safe distance 😉
Yes, thank you, they were. It is very irresponsible to get too close to wild grizzlies. I have good telephoto.
These are wonderful photos Cindy. I hope you were behind a long lens from a safe distance.
Yes. Thank you for emphasizing this. Tragedies for all species happen when people do not repect a wild animal’s space.
Wowsers, the claws on those paws!
They are so impressive. She is so impressive!
Such lovely creatures left to go about their bear business undisturbed – amazing photos. Hope you were far away becuase momma bears are so protective and with those claws!! My hiking friend and I once had a baby bear cross our path on the trail and backed off pretty fast because we knew mom would be close behind.
Trails can make me a tad nervous for this reason. I sing so loudly on them that when we ecounter a bear, it is ass first, running away from my voice! Laughing….. smart bear.
Wonderful photos and so charming to see a child copy their Mum! Hope all well at the Holler.
Happy home at The Holler, thanks! And, yes, the closeness between mama bears and cubs is beautiful to behold. I can imagine them curled up together in their dens through the intense Montana winter. Sweet dreams and stay safe to both of them. <3
They are so, so adorable! (Well, from afar and through your lens anyway…I wouldn’t want to come between them…) 🙂 You make me want to write a story about them (if Robert McCloskey hadn’t done it so well already in “Blueberries For Sal”). <3
I read that so long ago. Thank you for reminding me of it. I think you should write your own. I want to read it! <3
Thanks for the encouragement, Cindy! I think bear stories are fun and who doesn’t want more, right? 😉 xo
Looking forward to reading it!
Amazing shots of these gorgeous animals. Look at that thick fur. And those faces…and claws. Thanks for sharing these breathtaking photos, Cindy. You have extraordinary talent and brilliant subject matter.
Your kindness is so appreciated. Magnificent subjects like these two make their own beauty. They were such a privelege to see and photograph.
Your posts are stunning. I love hearing about your travels and seeing all the glorious life that appears in front of your camera. You have a way of honoring everything you photograph. I admire you greatly.
Ahhh, I am more honored to get to know you. <3 <3
Wonderful share, Cindy. How gorgeous they are! 🙂
Aren’t they exquisite, not on a rug or stuffed on a wall, but in their glory in their natural home. There is no better way to see them.
What a delightful post, Cindy. Hugs! :bear:
Hugs back to you my friend! <3
They both look so HUGGABLE — except for those vicious-looking claws, of course! Good thing real Teddy Bears don’t have them!
Yes, it’s best to save your hugs for your teddy bear! Laughing……Cheers to you Debbie. <3
Amazing and exquisite photos that capture such gentleness and connection!
Thank you for seeing the most important aspect of these two! <3
I also sow your extraordinary gift to be able to get close enough to grizzly bears to photograph such important natural mother/child bonds with incredible skill and heart. You rock, Cindy!
Man, Carol, what rocks the most, is you and I finding each other here in blogdom. Do you have any idea how grateful I am for this? <3 <3
These are great! There is a video going round of a great big bear enjoying water coming out of a hose. It’s coming out at high pressure and this bear was so happy having a wash and an itch. I think you can find it on youtube.
I am going to look for it now. I Love these videos of wild bear antics. Check out this clever bear, not only can it open a car door in one second, it also has impeccable
taste. I don’t care much for Chevy Impalas either! 😉
Crikey, cheeky bugger! 🙂