On Thu, 22 Jun 2006 21:12:29 GMT, briansfly
wrote:

It finally veers off to it's left, and disappears
into the bush....but not after it grabbed a salmon carcass and carried
it into the bush. You could hear the bones cracking as it ate the fish.
I could only think how loud my bones would've been.

What time of the year were you there, Brian? During the spawn, the
bears generally eat only the brains and skin - high protein areas -
and leave the flesh alone. It isn't until later in the season, late
September, early November, that they start eating the entire fish.

Still, 75 yards is quite a distance. I'll post some more pix of a
bear that swam across the river because we were catching lots of
silvers. He walked towards us while we backed away,shouting and
waving our arms. I made sure the pilot of the aircraft was between me
and the bear. The guide was up-river with a man and woman from
England. Mr. Bruin continued to advance, only to completely ignore us
about 30 feet distance when he changed course and went up a trail.

The same bear approached a small sow with two or three cubs. She
gathered the cubs and stood in front of them, but the big male ignored
her and started his swim across the Big River (upstream about a 1/4
mile from Cooks Inlet.) Salmon don't offer as much fight as a sow
with cubs. d;o)

Dave