Many-Storied Mountains: The Life of Glacier National ParkBeaumont, Greg
History
Many-Storied Mountains: The Life of Glacier National Park
Beaumont, Greg
Glacier National Park (Mont.); Natural history -- Montana -- Glacier National Park (Mont.)
Grizzlies, popularly considered arch predators, are more accurately
described as omnivores. Carrion, grasses, cow parsnip, and several
species of berries, bulbs, and tubers make up a grizzly’s diet,
along with insects, small mammals, and an occasional ungulate that
it can catch. As a result, grizzlies play several roles in the
biotic community, functioning as herbivore, scavenger, and predator.
Ranging widely in all life zones, grizzlies follow the spring
snowmelt up to the alpine meadows, returning to lower elevations to
hibernate from November until April. One to three cubs are born in
midwinter during hibernation. Since the maternal bond lasts two
years, a sow will accept a mate only every other year. Mortality of
subadults is high, resulting principally from competition among the
bears themselves. As with most animals, range—habitat—appears to be
the limiting factor of grizzly populations.
The grizzly is normally shy and fearful of man—but highly
unpredictable. Wounded or sick bears, sows defending cubs, young
adults, and bears that have become conditioned to human scent are
the most dangerous. As humans continue to encroach on grizzly
territory, odds of confrontation also increase. Recent fatalities
and personal injuries inflicted by grizzlies pose a vexing problem
to the National Park Service, which is charged with visitor safety
on the one hand and protection of the park’s remaining grizzly
population on the other. Continuing study of grizzly ecology and
increasingly enlightened bear management programs will, it is hoped,
allow man and bear to co-exist in a wilderness both require.
[Illustration: Grizzlies are fond of succulent spring grasses.]
[Illustration: Traversing all life zones in the park, the grizzly is
a true opportunist, eating anything from ants and berries to
wapiti.]
[Illustration: Seldom will a grizzly exceed 225 kilograms in
Glacier. This is a young adult.]
Bald Eagles and Kokanee Salmon: A Recent Gathering
In 1916 the kokanee salmon, a small, land-locked form of the Pacific
coast species, was planted in the Flathead drainage. With the first
planting augmented by additional stockings, the fish thrived in
cold, deep Flathead Lake, and, to a lesser extent, in Lake McDonald.
The salmon fed almost exclusively on zooplankton.
By the mid-1930s, salmon runs were becoming established. The outlet
of Lake McDonald provides an ideal spawning site for the salmon. The
fast-flowing water is clear, cold, and shallow, and the creek bed is
gravelly.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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