Hoonah Zoo

Before Tuesday I had never seen an Alaskan bear. Today I can say I have seen one…well kinda-sorta.

During a nice visit with Tina, the K-2 teacher on maternity leave, her husband Chris, and holding her sweet 28 day-old baby boy, Evan Ezekiel, we started talking photography. Chris has seen me carrying my camera everywhere I go and like me, he is always seeking great moments to capture on “film.” He has a few advantages, a really cool camera, a vehicle, three years learning the terrain, and patterns of the animals and an adventurous spirit. I shared that I would join him anytime he goes out bear watching or to look for whales. Later that afternoon he took me up on it. He invited us all to a local bear hang out…the dump!

Steve had a meeting, so Andrew and I threw on our snow gear and jumped in Chris’ Jeep. Off we went up a snowy, tree-lined road about five miles out of town. It was a serene, beautiful ride that ironically serves no other destination points other than the dump. When we arrived, the entire area was covered by five feet of untouched snow, making it the most beautiful landfill I’ve ever seen. The view was breathtaking, with miles and miles of mountain peaks, trees and open sky…and snuggled into the side of the mountain was our bear.

Chicagof Island has the largest brown Grizzly bear population in the world, approximately 3 per square mile. With spring unofficially here, the bears are awake and hungry. Chris has seen hundreds of bears during his stay in Hoonah and knows the dump is a sure-bet opportunity to catch a glimpse of our furry friends. “Dump Bears” wait for the people to come and unload their rubbish into the incinerator. The bears have torn an entry through the chain-link fencing to get to the food. Chris mocked throwing some food in the incinerator to entice the bear to come a little closer. Our bear didn’t move and chose to stay lodged in his snow bed.

It is similar to seeing a bear at a zoo, although as Andrew mentioned, “…with no fences to hold him back.” While we waited to see if another bear would show up, we enjoyed the view and heard stories of Chris’s many bear encounters. With no more bear activity we decide to go home. Andrew and I were excited to see our first Alaska bear but are eagerly waiting for Chris’s next call to go bear watching.

The little black dot to the right of Andrew's head is the bear :)