Previously, I wrote an entry for this blog about a young grizzly bear named Silver. In that post I said I’d update readers if there was any news about the rambunctious bear beloved by many Glacier visitors. Hmmm, I just used three “b’s” to start three words in a row. That’s the kind of thing I’d edit from a story.
I’m sad to say no one has seen Silver since the spring of 2013. She was glimpsed earlier in the season frolicking with her friend Choco along the shores of Lake Sherburne, and that was it. Nor was her mother seen throughout the season. I spent several weeks in October looking for the great bears, and I couldn’t find them either.
Amongst the Glacier faithful, there are many theories floating about:
Oh, they’re fine, just a bad berry season is all.
In speaking with several park biologists and employees, this seemed to be the biggest factor. The lower, moister western side of the park produced a massive berry crop, and the theory is that Silver and her mother (Silver always follows her mother, as she was kicked out a year early and suffers from separation anxiety) headed across the divide for easier pickings.
Or so it seems. I spoke with an acquaintance in the park who spends weeks doing nothing but spotting bears. This acquaintance claims the bears abandoned the mid-level country and trudged out onto the Blackfeet Reservation to feed on cow carcasses.
Bullshit, another friend says. Highly unlikely. The bears wouldn’t leave their core habitat.
Another friend worries about traps:
There was a big culvert trap set up at the end of the valley in early summer. I hope they didn’t get Silver and her mother.
I verified the presence of this trap after speaking with a park official. There are plans to collar up to ten female Glacier Park grizzlies. Was Silver one of them? Her mother? Or maybe they accidentally got Choco, the bear who loves to swim. Bears have died from mishandling before, especially in Glacier National Park.
On October 17th, 2013, I slept on the Blackfeet Reservation outside the entrance to Glacier National Park. The government shutdown had finally ended that night, so I hauled ass from the Rocky Mountain Front to be first in once they opened the gates. I had to call a Ranger that morning to open the gate.
You must love this park, he told me.
I was the first one in the park, and had the place to myself for the day. The first animal I spotted was a grizzly! And a young one at that. The bear was feeding next to a dead pine high up on the slope:
This was a heavy-blonde grizzly, and sort of looked like Silver, so I was ecstatic. When the bear turned and I got a better look, I realized it wasn’t Silver at all, but Baby Silver (AKA Snarfy). Baby Silver has the same mother as Big Silver. That’s not where the similarities end, though. Baby Silver was also kicked out early by her mother. I had the honor of taking many photographs of Baby Silver and her mother in 2012, when Baby Silver was much smaller.
I’d heard Baby Silver had been kicked out early, but seeing it in person had a deeper, more personal effect. She grazed alone up there in the high winds, in all that wilderness. I also wasn’t thrilled with how little fat Baby Silver was carrying for mid-October. She would need much more than presently showing to survive the brutal Glacier winter.
For the first time in several years, I did not see Big Silver or her mother. Nor did I see any other grizzlies in Glacier National Park this season. For whatever reason, they vacated the valley and mid-slopes. I did run across a few black bears, but it seemed like they’d rather be feeding somewhere else.
Government shutdowns aren’t the only thing that close Glacier. The snow and wind came too, and soon the main road was shut to all visitors. On the way out, I caught a glimpse of Baby Silver all by herself on a talus slope, heading up a dangerous pass into high country. The bear puffed up a bit to show me how strong she was.
I wonder how she’s doing now, and if she went to the place where her mother and half-sister went. I hope it’s a good one.
I never saw her again.
