Yellowstone Day #2

 The plan for today was made around the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center, as we needed to be there for the 3:30 pm food hiding session. This worked out well as we always take the grandkids out for 1 nice breakfast so we headed to Yellowstone for breakfast at the Old Faithful Inn.  

Grandkids were on their best behavior, sitting up straight, napkins on the lap, using the flatware properly, no elbows on the table. Each kid acted as the etiquette police on the others.

From breakfast 2 kids got the Jr. Ranger badges then watched Old Faithful and finished off with ice cream, this time from the Old Faithful Inn. We sat on the balcony eating our ice cream like we did with the older grandkids many years ago. After one last eruption from Old Faithful, we had to get back to West Yellowstone for the bears.

The bear feeding does not include giving food directly to the bears. The staff clears the bears out of the enclosure, into another separate cage. The bears are separated from the kids and staff by 3-200 lb metal doors.

The outdoor enclosure is quite large. There is a ditch between the visitors and the bear habitat. Then after an area of grass, there are rocks, not large rocks but probably up to 1’ in diameter. The rocks are piled up several feet deep, in the area about 4’ across and 60’ long. Behind the rocks are plants and grass.

The bears were cleared out of the enclosure and then kids, in a line, followed the staff into the main enclosure. Kids were given apples to throw into a pond. Then each kid was given a bucket with special food that kids described looking like dog food. They were told to bury the food under the rocks, with bigger kids helping the smaller ones when they finished.

Our 3 kids were most interested in trying to make it as difficult as possible for the bear to find the food. This meant finding the heaviest rocks to pile on the food. Sequoia and Zaya worked together while Lucian worked alone. They were certain that the bear would not find or access their food quickly.

Kids were let out of the enclosure and we all stood on a viewing deck to watch as one bear came out. The bear went straight to Lucian’s cache, tossing the rocks aside as if they were pebbles. She found the food and stuffed it down. Then she went to Zaya and Sequoias, again tossing the rocks aside with little to no effort. The kids couldn’t believe it, they’d worked so hard to hide everything but the bear, with no effort, found everything.

We visited the wolves and raptors once more, then said goodbye to Yellowstone.

We did not encounter wild animals inside of Yellowstone, but Dale and I were fine with that. The animals can cause huge delays and with grandkids, we were concerned about safety. The Discovery Center gave them a wildlife experience in a safe environment.

A Close Encounter with a Bison