[Illustration: A black bear near treelimit. Bears will eat almost anything, from ants to carrion, grass to garbage. Color phases include brown and blonde bears. Unlike the larger, more aggressive grizzly, which ranges out onto the plains, black bears are strictly forest creatures.] [Illustration: The water ouzel, or dipper, a creature of fast mountain water, is admirably outfitted to cope with its demanding environment. Stubby wings, chunky body, short tail, and oily plumage allow it to walk under water, where it scavenges for aquatic insect larvae and small fish. In flying up- and down-stream, ouzels never shortcut but follow the winding streamcourse. As long as there is open water, the dipper suffers no hardship from the mountain winter. Then, when the land is shut down and lakes are frozen over, this little bird carries on in its mountain-stream habitat, plunging into the cold water to find food, and pausing occasionally to sing.] [Illustration: Ouzels construct their nests of living moss on cliff faces or ledges where constant spray keeps the moss moist. At fledging, the four young of this nest in Avalanche Gorge tumbled one by one into the torrent below, to be collected by the adults in quieter water downstream. Within a day they appeared to have mastered the underwater gymnastics and were feeding on their own.] [Illustration: From their lowland wintering grounds, wapiti move up to higher elevations in spring. Summer range in the park is abundant, but winter range is limited; as a result, wapiti have a tendency to increase their populations beyond the carrying capacity of available winter range. In a severe winter many starve. But in a balanced ecosystem such loss is not waste, for the carrion helps sustain scavengers; it is an important initial food source for bears emerging from hibernation.] [Illustration: Cedar waxwings nest in moist areas of low valleys where fruits and berries are abundant. Although they also subsist on insects (which they can capture on the wing), their weakness for fruit is so pronounced that the birds will sometimes gorge themselves until rendered incapable of flight.] [Illustration: The Columbian ground squirrel is found at all park elevations, from prairie to alpine meadow. Hibernation occupies almost three-quarters of its five-year lifespan. Unlike other park ground squirrels, it lives in colonies. Although not as tightly structured as a prairie dog town, the association is beneficial to all members in that danger is readily detected.] [Illustration: The tundra community is encountered above Preston Park on the Siyeh Pass trail. Mt. Reynolds, a classic example of a horn, dominates the distant Logan Pass area.]