crazy 'bout them bears

Beautiful aren't they?

I am obsessed with grizzly bears. My downstairs family room is a shrine to them. I have grizzly bear plush toys, figurines, carvings, an actual paw cast, claws, pictures, dozens of Christmas tree ornaments, books, throw pillows, blankets, sheets, slippers, handbags, earrings, pins, pendants, wind chimes, picture frames, night lights, bobble-heads, pj's, jackets, sweat shirts, and two scrapbooks full of "Bear" trips.

I have even adopted a grizzly bear named Sam at Yellowstone. Above is a picture I took of Sam at the rescue center where he lives. (Even though I begged to pet him, this is as close as they would let me get to him. They wouldn't let me feed him either, too dangerous...whatever.)

Just south of Yellowstone is Bear World. It's a drive-thru park with lots of animals but mostly black bears. I've been there several times and have been able to feed the adult black bears in the park and even bottle feed baby black bears in the nursery. They wouldn't let me feed the grizzlies but feeding any bear was a thrill!

When you do the drive-thru, they instruct you NOT to open your car doors or windows at any time and NOT to carry any food in your car. Of course, I took a Costco carton of fishy-crackers and the minute I was out of sight from any workers I rolled down my window and fed them to the bears. It was truly amazing to look right into their expressive eyes and touch these gentle giants.

My dream vacation is to go to the McNeil River in Alaska during the salmon run and photograph the bears fattening up for their winter hibernation on the fish. Then fly to Kodiak Alaska and photograph the bears playing on the beach. Maybe someday.