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Ursus arctos horribilis
The grizzly bear (also known as a brown bear) has fur that can range from a light cream/silver color to nearly black. Some grizzly bears' fur is tipped in a lighter color than the rest of their fur thus giving them a "grizzled" appearance. Grizzly bears differ from black bears in that they have a slight hump above the shoulder, have a more concave "dish-type" face, and can weigh between 250-1500 pounds.
Dense forests and subalpine meadows of western Canada, Alaska, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Washington. This particular spotting was in a meadow proximal to Lake Sherburne in the Many Glacier area of Glacier National Park.
The bear was spotted two days in a row in the same location. It was digging up Columbian Ground Squirrels to eat.
Spotted on Aug 12, 2013
Submitted on Aug 25, 2013
2 Comments
Thank you :) Some folks say the "horribilis" came from a misinterpretation of the word "grizzly" as "grisly." Instead of naming it after the appearance of its fur, they went with a (misguided) reference to temperament.
Beautiful! You are a lucky individual to see grizzlies! I just noticed it's scientific name. Sounds like whoever named it had a bad experience:)