Big Bear!!

First of all, sorry for the overload on pictures! :)

Today, we're going low key, we are both quite tired from our long excursion yesterday and traveling, just taking a bit of a breather. We leave tomorrow morning for Yellowstone and want to get an early start, it's almost an 8 hour drive and want to stop in Sturgis and Deadwood on the way there so we're hoping to leave by 8. Also need time to get our luggage organized tonight and get a few groceries for the road.

Eating bread?? (we think) on his honches

Sleeping with his paws over his eyes.

Didn't your Momma ever tell you not to walk between moving cars!! :)

We went to Bear Country USA today, it's a drive through a wildlife park with what else but bears and other wildlife, anyone who knows me, I'm always on the look out for bears at the lake so this was just right for me. The bears that they had here were American Black Bears, but you'd never know it, they were brown, honey coloured and brown/black, none of them were solid black. There had to have been at least 50 bears in a very large area and were all very healthy well fed bears, the bears at the lake are not as round or large as these were. They just roam the fields with dens for shelter, logs to climb on or in, watering holes and lots of trees for them, they roam out onto the road in the traffic, but you are going at such a slow pace that they won't get hit, most times traffic is stopped to watch them. We even came upon 2 that were "busy" and the female was in standing heat.

Reindeer

Big Horn Sheep

Buffalo with Papa watching over

They also have elk, mountain goats, mountain sheep, reindeer, timber and arctic wolves (didn't see, they were sleeping), buffalo and pronghorn. All these animals have their own areas that are well fenced and divided among each other with the rolling pipes that they can't cross, but all are able to roam free.

Sleeping Grizzly Bear

Honey Badgers???

I always say that Ruby looks like a little fox, her nose isn't as pointy though

Once you have gone through the driving part of the park, there is an area that is like a zoo with other animals in that you walk through. They have a grizzly bear, badgers (not sure if they are "Honey Badgers" Shar), ground hog, fox, coyote and other animals.

All 4 babies climbed this tree over and over again.

 

Reaching for a pine cone 4 times and falling each time, not far off the ground though

But the best part was the 4 baby Black Bears, they were climbing, running, falling out of the tree while trying to get pine cones off the tree and always wanting to be together playing. We couldn't leave, they were so cute and fun to watch. Olivia and Kennedy would have loved to see them. They are all about 6 months old and have to be taken away from their mother's (from the wildlife park) because the males will kill and eat them. :( You can see they are well taken care of and growing, I was shocked they said they were 6 months old though, they were just a little bit bigger than Ruby, maybe 10 lbs. and are about 10 ozs. when born. They were still so little.

See, construction season isn't only for Winnipeg!

Rapid City, South Dakota

It was a relaxing day going through the park, picked up groceries, had an early supper and hung out in our room and organized the suitcases.

Yellowstone tomorrow, maybe we'll see Yogi & Boo Boo....oh no, that was Jellystone. Maybe Smokey the Bear.....not really sure where he lived?

Talk to you tomorrow!