Cathedral Mountain Blog

ABC’s of the Rockies – B

// March 12th, 2011 // Uncategorized

Bears

Native to the Rocky Mountains, these ferocious looking creatures are fairly common in Yoho National Park.  

Rawr!

 

Before I dive into fun facts about these awe-inspiring giants please be aware that although rare, defensive attacks on humans can happen if you startle them. Bears try hard to avoid humans, so please learn some bear etiquette through Parks Canada’s tips  

   

Bears are lazy!

 We’ve all imagined the scenario of a bear chasing us through the woods, nipping at our backpacks that we filled with smoked salmon. The thing is… bears aren’t going to chase you unless absolutely necessary. In fact, there is a lot of work they would rather avoid:  

Like us, they just want to lounge around

Shelters

Black bears use existing structures, such a hollow trees, depressions, under logs, caves and rock crevices to make their dens. Grizzlies on the other hand will spend hours digging their dens building muscle as they go, giving them that large hump on their back.   

Both bears hibernate in the cold winter months when food is scarce purely because they become tired and lethargic. During this time bears do not enter true hibernation because they can wake up. Instead they feel lazy and spend most of their time napping, similar to the average teenager. Unlike the average teenager, bears keep their dens very clean!  

Meals

Bears are 75% vegetarians. When they decide to munch on some tasty meat it is most likely already dead. They are too lazy and slow to kill their own feed. I mean, wouldn’t you rather go to McDonalds than kill your own food?  

Humans

Rather than have to face confrontation bears would rather just continue minding their own business. In fact… 

Splash!

As some staff members at our sister property Moraine Lake Lodge will tell you Bears are great swimmers! One summer a grizzly climbed the famous rockpile, caught the eye of tourists and felt trapped so she climbed into the freezing cold waters and swam across the lake just to avoid us!  

Both grizzly bears and black bears roam the trails; can you spot the difference?  

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Check out the previous ABC of the Rockies: A