Mini Me~

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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!

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Thought you might like to see some more photos of them.
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Here they are surveying their vast domain.

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It’s mini see, mini do, with these two!
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I have never seen such perfectly executed mimicry. Mini is learning how to be a bear.
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They live in an awful pretty place,
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and they are a awfully handsome pair!
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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:

Grizzly Daze~

246 thoughts on “Mini Me~

      1. 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.

    1. 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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        1. 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! 😉 😉

  2. 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.

    1. 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.

    1. 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.

        1. 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!

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  4. 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.

      1. 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.

  5. 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. 😀

  6. 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

    1. 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.

  7. 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!

    1. 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

  8. 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.

  9. 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.

    1. 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.

    1. 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

  10. 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

  11. 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.

      1. 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.

      1. 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!

  12. 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.

    1. 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! 😉

    1. I know you resonate with these phenomal creatures Alison and I am grateful that you do! They need defenders.
      Thank you for the eye opening post on Egypt. Sending it to Jim. The lack of tourists has me very interested.

  13. Great catch how Mini Me copies the movements of Mama Bear… 🙂

    Isn’t it a pity that they both give you the feeling you’d like to cuddle them, hug them when you know you’d probably not survive it?… 😉

    1. Just seeing them from a safe distance was a huge thrill for me! They do look cuddly, hence the teddy bear icons, but nope, I wasn’t tempted to request a hug! It would be unbearable. 😉

    1. Thank you! Yes, it is sad that bears are gone from so much of Europe. They definitely wake you up when you encounter one on a trail! Cheers to you, and I am 1/4 Scotch, so I love Scotland! Note: You can tell I am Scottish, since I just spelled Scot, Scotch!! 😉 😉

      1. Scots or Scotch, with photos like yours Cindy, we are proud you here in Scotland that you have some Scottish blood!! Actually, far more than me, I’m a Cornishman living in Scotland, but my wife is 100% Scottish 🙂

      2. My paternal grandmother was the very proud Scot. She married a Newfoundlander, that’s a mouthfull! Wonderful to make your aquaintance and love looking at your photos of gorgeous Scotland.

    1. These are not Holler Bears. You are right they were in Glacier National Park, in Montana. The largest grizzly bear in North America was shot at The Holler, but that was in the 1890’s. Sadly there are no more grizzlies in California despite them being our state symbol.

    1. Thank you Curt. We have gotten minimal rain, and none in the past ten days. We are still eagerly awaiting the el nino!. I am going to google the latest projections now. Take care my friend~

  14. Wow, Cindy! How incredible. Do you feel scared with them around or do they keep to themselves? A long lens perhaps? They are so beautiful and the mimicry is particularly striking. I felt like I was watching a wildlife documentary. Fantastic!

    1. I have a long lens. These two were not the least bit scary because we all knew we were there and there was good distance between us. Plus the bears were in a mellow mood. The only time I have felt scared was when I encounter a bear close up on a trail, but in those situations, I have been singing so loudly (to alert bears to our presence) that all I see is a glance and a bear butt as they walk away from my cacaphony! 😉

    1. Amen! I google imaged searched grizzly claw images and the majority of photos were taken by hunters, gloating over the a dead bear’s claws and paws. I only want to see living bears, and living bear paws and claws!

      1. It is hard to get a balanced view of grizzlies anywhere. The truth is we have hunted them to extinction in much of the lower 48 including California despite the fact they are our state symbol. They spend most of their time grazing and avoiding humans.

  15. Wow, Cindy, fantastic photos. You did an impeccable job of capturing the mimicry. And I really love seeing the grizzly’s claws–so formidable…not easy to capture when there’s tall grass and ground debris.

    1. Thank you my friend. That is the hardest thing about photographing wild life in their natural environments isn’t it? The difficulty of getting a photo unobscured by grass and brush!

  16. Cindy – Oh, yes. Your bears have the best of all worlds. They have food, safety and beauty along with a natural habitat. What more could any being on earth ask for – other than love and health of course. With your temperate climate will the bears go into hibernation? I’m ashamed to admit, I love bears and know next to nothing about them. Your photos are magnificent as always. Sheri

    1. These grizzlies live in Glacier, and they should be heading into hibernation around now. The largest grizzly ever shot in North America was shot at The Holler in the late 1800’s. Sadly there are no more left. Life at The Holler would be so much more interesting with grizzlies. They are after all our state symbol. Be well Sheri & Tom. <3

    1. So glad you understand how truly remarkable this was. I have seen coastal grizzlies up coast, but this was an inland sow and cub and we were in their presence for a long time. Truly an incredible experience!

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  18. These are simply awesome shots (the third one needs to be in a magazine and framed somewhere…it has everything). What you’ve captured is a great mom-child pair…and the fact that they are grizzlies is amazing.

    1. We are going for more grizzly time in The Knight Inlet next year. I have seen a lot of grizzlies in my life, but I have never seen one acting aggressively. This pair was incredible, such tenderness between the two, and the photo with them both looking over this thousand foot drop over their realm was pure magic to see. Again not suprised you noticed Randall, but thank you very much for doing so.

      1. I do hope to photograph some bears, and grizzlies would be a dream…they are beautiful just being themselves, but when put in an incredible environment it is a sight I wish to see very much ~ The Knight Inlet, very good for you!

      2. It will be our second visit but this time we are staying much longer in a floating fly in lodge up the inlet. Then we are driving all over Vancouver Island. We are going at the peak of the salmon runs so are sure to see orcas and bears!

    1. Awwww, so glad you like them. They have a gentle, grazer aspect to them. Not always the fierce, relentless predator depicted so ubiquitously. Thank you for supporting the grizzlies.

    1. The largest grizzly shot in North America was shot at The Holler in the late 1890’s. Despite it being our state symbol, grizzlies are extinct in Caliornia. There guys were in Glacier National Park. Hope all is well with you and your Brenda!

      1. I’ve seen bear in Yosemite, but maybe those were black bears. I’m afraid they trigger my avoidance behaviors. We push out all the other major predators, don’t we? We just can’t stand a little competition.

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