Going for a swim

During three days away (26, 27 and 28 August 2014) with friends, Cathy and Terry, we saw so many things, including breathtaking scenery, 4 Black Bears (including this Cinnamon Black Bear that went swimming in the lake and landed much further along the shore), Bison, Deer, Golden-mantled Ground Squirrels, Chipmunks, and various bird species including a family of Dusky Grouse that apparently are uncommon in the park.

On the last day, before driving back to Calgary, we did a long drive east of Waterton, where we saw several Yellow-bellied Marmots (a first for me!), and, perhaps the highlight of the whole trip, two (maybe three) endangered Burrowing Owls (a first for all three of us!). I even got the chance to see three or four new-to-me old, wooden grain elevators.

Even the weather was perfect - that is, till the moment we decided that it was time to start driving back to Calgary. Around 5:00 p.m., a mesocyclone rolled in, totally engulfing our car and bringing pounding hail, maybe 3 feet visibility, and tremendously strong winds. Fortunately, we weren't caught in the very centre of the storm - can't imagine how bad that would have been!

"The cinnamon bear (Ursus americanus cinnamomum) is a color phase of the American black bear, native to Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Idaho, Montana, Washington, Wyoming, Alberta, and British Columbia. The most striking difference between a cinnamon bear and any other black bear is its brown or red-brown fur, reminiscent of cinnamon, from which the name is derived.

Cubs weigh approximately 230 grams (8 oz) at birth, with adults weighing between 92.1 and 270 kilograms (203 and 595 lb). The life span for this bear is a maximum of 30 years.

Cinnamon bears are excellent climbers, good runners, and powerful swimmers. They are mostly nocturnal, though sometimes active during daylight hours. The cinnamon and brown bears of this country are simply color phases of the black bear, the blondes and brunettes of the family. The various colors are frequently intermixed in the same family; hence it is a common occurrence to see a black bear female with brown cubs, a brown and a black cub, or even all three colors. The bears hibernate during the winter months, usually from late October or November to March or April depending upon the weather conditions. Their scat resembles that of domestic dogs." From Wikipedia.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinnamon_bear

"Black bears are efficient berry-eaters, consuming up to 30,000 berries a day in a good year. They gather berries quickly, using their sensitive, mobile lips and swallowing them whole. The berries enter a two-part stomach, which grinds the pulp off the seeds. The seeds pass through the digestive tract unbroken and able to germinate, making black bears important seed dispersers. Each summer, they spread the seeds of their favorite berries all over their home ranges."

www.bear.org/website/bear-pages/black-bear/foraging-a-foo...