Bears of Bute

The Bear Bay Fishing Lodge is an outdoorsman’s paradise, one that sounds almost too good to be true.  The beautiful site is located right at the mouth of Bute Inlet’s Bear River on British Columbia’s West Coast, and is optimal real estate for those looking to come face to face with the river’s eponymous species.  In the fall, you can get as close as you dare (safety allowing) to grizzlies and black bears in their natural environment—that’s the season when they flock to the streams to “welcome in” the spawning salmon.

With such competition, the fall isn’t the best for prospective fishers, but the lodge is still a great destination any time of the year.  During the early spring, the Bute Inlet’s many streams provide an amazing angling experience.  There are even helicopters ready to ferry you to the perfect location.  When you get bored, you can go hiking on the ridge tops surrounding the bay. (more…)

The Bute Inlet is situated on the British Columbia coast, expanding parallel to Knight and Toba inlets.  Running an estimated 80 km inland from its head at Stuart Island, it provides the Homathko and Southgate rivers with mouths to the larger body of water.  The Bute Inlet enjoys a feel of privacy and isolation afforded to it by Stuart Island’s shielding location.  The island nearly hides the inlet’s opening into the much larger Georgia Strait completely, rendering it easily overlook by passer-bys in plain sight.  From bank to bank, the Bute Inlet averages a 4 km width, wider at its onset and slowly narrowing as you move further inland.  Mountains shoot up around the inlet, offering a picturesque backdrop as boats float through. (more…)

Grizzly bears are currently thriving in healthy numbers in the province of British Columbia.  BC is home to half of Canada’s entire grizzly population and a quarter of all grizzly bears worldwide.  Conservative estimates put the total number of grizzlies living in British Columbia somewhere between 10,000 and 13,000 bears.  Current grizzly bear habitats in the Kootenay Mountains, Northern Rockies and Northwestern British Columbia are among the most densely concentrated and healthiest grizzly bear populations in the world. Though the grizzly is by no means classified as “threatened or endangered,” the species is listed as “vulnerable or sensitive” due to their intolerance of nearby human proximity and their reluctance to adapt to human heavy surroundings. (more…)

The black bear is actually British Columbia’s most thoroughly distributed large mammal, with only the provinces large urban cores out of its reach.  While tough enough to occupy the province’s roughest mountain terrain, the black bear can also make its home on the outer coast and islands of British Columbia.  Only 5% of the black bears natural habitat in BC has been permanently forsaken for human development.  While a larger percentage of the land supports significant human settlements, black bears, unlike their grizzly counterparts, are actually tolerant of moderate human interaction and unthreatened by close proximity to man.  Despite their adaptability, major highways and transportation networks have fragmented and displaced some large black bear constituencies, which has affected population growth patterns in certain areas. (more…)

Though bear attacks are very uncommon, it is still better for hikers and woodsmen to stay alert and on guard at all times.  To understand how to defend yourself, you must first be aware of exactly why the bear is attacking you.  Though at the point of a bear attack you are probably terrified and not thinking clearly, taking a moment to get your wits about you and analyze the situation could be the few seconds that end up saving your life.  First you will want to identify the type of bear attacking you, as black bears and grizzlies attack for very different reasons.

While grizzly attacks are a lot more common, this is generally due to the clumsiness of humans than to any sort of predatory nature.  Grizzlies attack only when they feel threatened, and while you may not feel you are a threat to the massive grizzly bear, just walking within 10-20 feet could trigger its defensive instincts.  Proximity to the grizzly’s cubs may also play a part in its decision to attack.  Feeling that its smaller offspring are threatened could be just as alarming, if not more, heightening their aggressiveness.  Because grizzlies only attack when on the defensive, it is recommended that when confronted, you should play dead in hopes the large bear will walk away.  Even the strongest men are no match for a grizzly in combat, so your best bet is to minimize your perceived threat level as much as possible. (more…)

Bute, and all of British Columbia for that matter, is the natural habitat to two main species of bear, the black bear and the grizzly bear.  Telling the two apart is not quite as easy as their names might indicate.  Once you figured out grizzly bears are brown, it would seem the work is practically done for you, but despite their misleading moniker, black bears can range from black to cinnamon to light blond.  To determine which species has confronted you, you will have to conduct a further examination beyond the mere color of their coat (perhaps from your play-dead fetal position).

Size, like their coloring, can vary greatly from bear to bear as well.  While grizzlies are larger on average, individual bears of both species come in big and small packages.  Male grizzly bears typically hover around 500 lbs.  Females are slightly smaller, weighing in around 350 lbs.  Larger grizzly bears can reach a peak weight around 800 lbs., over twice the size of the average female.  Most black bears, on the other hand, fall between 110 and 300 lbs.  The largest of their kind can reach up to 400 lbs., larger than the grizzly females.  The potential overlap in size between larger black bear males and female grizzly bears can cause confusion, unless you are in a position to do a very thorough investigation that the bear may not take too kindly to. (more…)