Meaning of a Bear
May 2nd, 2025
We have been to Yellowstone many times. Many hours have been spent over 25 years exploring the park. Most of the time has been limited to July when we have been able to accommodate Marcia’s schedule while she was a teacher. I went by myself on a workshop two years ago in November, no luck. Now that she is Semi-retired we are able to explore going at different times. Last year we saw a bear on the road but shooting through the window provided no useable images.
Finally this trip we sighted a bear on the edge of water. My wife was able to find a place to pull over and we started watching and photographing. The bear was wandering closer and closer to the water for at the time, no noticeable reason. Nearby geese were not in favor and transmitted their unhappiness. Eventually the bear ventured into the water to get food off a floating body. Form of food storage I suppose.
Our next bear sighting was in the same general area but much less accessible. We got stuck behind some other cars looking at the bear but had no place to pull over. I quickly took pictures with limited time while we were blocked and then only continued until someone came up behind us so we moved on. Didn’t want to hold up other people and their enjoyment of the park.
Our last bear appeared in the afternoon when we had seen hardly anything all afternoon. The afternoon glow caught him exactly and there was no high grass in the way of shooting. We again were in an area with no pull offs. We again had a car in front of us and no easy way to get around them. I had to angle carefully several times and got these shots. Eventually the ranger arrived and called out of the speaker for the cars to move. The other driver failed to do so. Ranger called again and then beeped his horn. Finally the bear took off and the driver in front of us moved.
I am very proud of all my bear images. All taken in a short amount of time. They show my learned ability to work quickly and correctly with exposure and settings. To hold camera steady in less than ideal conditions out of the car window. Success.