Grizzly Encounter

Jake posing for us

After Cody with headed up to Bozeman, MT to visit Brutus the Grizzly Bear at the Grizzly Encounter. Brutus is our favorite bear to follow. Adopted when just a cub (about the size of a squirrel) by naturalist Casey Anderson Brutus weighs in at over 800 lbs today. If you've not had the chance to experience the life and antics of Brutus I recommend that you visit www.grizzlyencounter.org or become a fan of Brutus on his Face Book page. National Geographic has filmed Brutus so look for previous episodes. In fact Casey Anderson and Brutus will be filming with National Geographic again over the next few years.

Brutus was happened to be in Missoula, MT doing a show with Casey on the day we visited the enclosure. But, the on-duty caregiver put out two bears for our viewing - Jake & Megs. Casey uses Brutus to demonstrate safety tips and information about grizzlies and why they're so mistakingly portrayed. Here's a couple of photos and I'll share some of the education we received while at the encounter.


Jake & Megs (Jake is going to be bigger than Brutus)

Facts we learned today:
Once a grizzly is rescued or adopted they cannot be released into the wild.
They are very, very smart - up there with the gorilla and dolphin. They never forget anything! That's why bear spray works. They don't forget the experience of being on the receiving end of the spray and they remember the smell.
They don't attack unless provoked. Playing dead with work with a grizzly but not a black bear. If you play dead you remove the threat.
Grizzlies don't climb trees. They're heavy and unsuited to do so. The care giver did explain that climbing a tree isn't a good idea as they are very strong and could shake you out of the tree. (ugh)
If they are on their hind-legs they are trying to hear better what is going on around them. They don't have good eye sight.
They have an excellent sense of smell and can smell a small tube of toothpaste in a tent. Brutus has demonstrated what happens to a tent if you leave your toothpaste inside. The tent gets shredded.

The care givers at the encounter are totally dedicated to the bears. In our care givers words "it's all about the bears". They love them, respect them and take exceptionally good care of all the bears in their care. In fact, they have to help bears that come into encounter understand that it's okay to walk on dirt, in snow and come out of their dens for play time. The bears love to dig holes, throw sticks and stones and test out coolers for bear proofing.

Brutus has no animal instincts as he wasn't brought up around other bears. Casey has to teach him everything or attempts to teach him. In one episode Casey tried to help Casey understand how to catch a salmon. Brutus was afraid of the salmon. You've got to check out the website to see the many pictures and antics of Brutus. His favorite meal is a large elk salad with avocado and huckle berry ice cream for desert.

We hope not to encounter bears close up and personal while heading into Canada/Alaska.

We've just spent two nights at Glacier National Park and will post our adventures later.

We're at the Canadian border now so blogging may get even more delayed. We're excited to continue on the journey.