Chico Heads Out To Find Biscuit
Chico and Biscuit Greeting
Chico Rolling In Biscuit's Scent
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I am in my small studio attached to our cabin and hear what sounds like cubs crying or is it young bears in distress. High on the cliff above Chico Basin, a large golden-brown bear is walking the ridgeline. Looks like Brandy, who has now weaned her cubs, I assume, as none are in sight. We spotted her two weeks ago with a large male. She was in the mating mode and her cubs were hovering in the distance, hoping to be soon reunited with Mom- no such luck. Was it her cubs that I heard crying in distress? Looking through the spotting scope, I saw Chico and Biscuit out on a steep part of this cliff, watching for Brandy to disappear, which she soon did. It appeared that it had been them who had done the roaring. I wished I had seen what had happened. Chico and Biscuit separately made their way to the bottom 3 hours later and ran to greet each other.
A few days prior, they were on a distant high snow bank, flirting with the steep slide down and leading Brandy up and down the mountainside. An uneasy peace must have been worked out on this occasion or simply one dictated by exhaustion and hunger. That evening we noticed they were all sharing the basin, grazing on the lush new greens then available. Maybe now they would agree to share this area near Kambalnoe Lake. The dispute over what we think may be a territorial turf war started last summer. Brandy repeatedly ran off Chico, often leaving her own cubs and Biscuit near us for up to an hour. We suspected Chico taunted her and somehow aggravated their dispute.
On Monday evening, we glanced out our window to see a large male walking towards Bearskull Bay. Chico and Biscuit were grazing a bit closer, in a small coulee not far from this bear's path. On the snowdrift 50 yards to the right were Gin and Tonic. I began to feel panicky when Brandy also walked into the scene, heading in the direction of Chico and Biscuit. The wind was blowing our cubs' scent to her and they could not hear or smell her approaching. She crept through the dense alders and emerged about 10 feet from them. They still had not seen or smelt her. I was ready to rush over and save them. Clearly, I would be too late and I knew they must work this out, some how.
Brandy could have easily jumped and caught one of our cubs at this moment. But, she did not. She stood looking at them from 10 feet, ears perked forward. They soon felt her presence and jumped away, heading in the direction Brandy had come through the dense alder. Then she leapt after them and was 6 feet behind when the three vanished in the bush. Was this some kind of bear etiquette or what? Biscuit emerged down near the lakeshore with Brandy close on her heals. I was yelling: "Run Biscuit Run!" like I was at a horse race. Both Charlie and I were also moaning "Oh No" anticipating the worst if Biscuit did not win. Chico emerged above Gin and Tonic and the three sat to watch the race too. Biscuit gained a significant lead below the cliffs above Bearskull Bay (where Charlie fell earlier this spring). She climbed up to the top of the steepest part and stopped. Brandy huffed her way to a spot just above her. Biscuit standing, precariously, climbed up a bit farther and roared in Brandy's face. Their heads were inches apart, mouths were wide open, and teeth were flashing as the noise continued.
We were so proud of Biscuit - confronting that "big bad bear", but emotions were mixed. They could have both easily tumbled over the cliff's edge. To our delight, Brandy stepped back and walked slowly out of sight. I stopped holding my breath. Brandy appeared back below Gin, Tonic and Chico and walked on by. The lone male bear we had sighted first was long gone from this female fight. Biscuit ate a few greens as if to say, she was not really bothered and flopped down and fell asleep. Chico rested too. Just before dark, we saw Biscuit heading south towards Ittleman Bay, leaving Chico.
The next morning, we saw Chico where she had been the night before, but no sign of Biscuit. Maybe she had been hurt. As we walked along the lakeshore in the direction Biscuit had gone, Chico followed. I went ahead and called out for Biscuit, "Biscuit Bear, Hey There Biscuit". Soon high above me, she emerged from the alder looking down. She had not been hurt. Chico sighted her and they moved towards each other. Delighted rubbing of heads followed by the touching of noses. Soon Chico rolled in Biscuit's scent on the snow. We have seen the cubs do this with our scent when we have been away for the winter. I did not know bears did this with each others scent, but it made sense. Biscuit slid down to Charlie and slid further to end up near me. She looked more adult and less like the cub I had encountered two days ago. Something in her aspect had changed, perhaps a gain in self confidence.
For the last 8 days, we have suffered some of the worst South Kamchatka weather. Today (Friday), wind, fog and a wet, depressing environment continues to surround us. We have not found it possible to hike out for the last three days. We would only scare our cubs if we suddenly emerged from the dense fog, so we are working in the cabin, trying not to drive each other too crazy. The good news is that the char (an ocean run species of trout) have returned to our creek. I had been anticipating their annual return any day after spotting the mergansers floating about on the water. I caught two beauties. This is a very tasty fish.
-Maureen