About a mile after we left the campground, we came across two black bears in a clearing near the road. Since the Parks Service has been working to return the parks to their natural states, bear sightings in Yellowstone have become much more rare. There are about 250 Black Bears in Yellowstone, and approximately 100 Grizzlies. We were quite lucky to see these two!

It was just after 7:00am in the morning when we saw the bears, out for breakfast. Several motorists had also stopped, and were watching from a safe distance on the road. One car suddenly stopped, skidding on the pavement about 200 yards away. This startled the bears, and one of them stood up to check it out. It must have disturbed him, as he charged about 50 yards toward the car. It was clear that he could have charged the distance in a matter of seconds. The advice to watch at a distance, or within your car, seemed very wise indeed.

Some people miss seeing the bears, and even think that it isn't important to protect their natural habitat! There was an article about "Yellowstone Bear World" in June 20 edition of the Salt Lake Tribune. I've included it here because it is hard to get to on their site.

We felt it an extra special treat to see the bears in their wild habitat, rather than just in some caged environment. Bear habitat is threatened all over the world, We all must recognize the importance of the world's ecosystems for all living things.

We saw a REALLY BIG RV on our drive home. We could probably have a full classroom and accomodations if we had this for our LV! We were glad to be going home, because the LV can feel a bit small after a week, especially when we had to spend so much time inside because of the rain. This one would be different! Of course we'd have to get a special license to drive it.

After we got home, the learning kids finished the assembly of the geyser model, and we had our own backyard eruption! It was really fun.

Resources
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Links

• American Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan
• Search on Excite! for Yellowstone

The Bears of Yellowstone by Paul D. Schullery

The Grizzly Bears of Yellowstone : Their Ecology in the Yellowstone Ecosystem, 1959-1992 by John J. Craighead, Jay S. Sumner A very well researched book that dispels the myths about the lifestyle of the Grizzlies and the dangers they pose to humans.

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