Colorado - Grizzly - Adam Greentree

[BoulderBulls]

Way late to this page but thought I would give my two cents nonetheless. I showed the second photo to my Mammology professor at Colorado State University, and asked for his take on what species it was. I didn’t ask anything that would have influenced a particular response, such as, “What do you think about the shoulder hump?” or anything along those lines. I also didn’t mention where the photo was taken. He responded in an almost annoyed manner as he was able to come to the conclusion that it was a grizzly very quickly. It wasn’t until I stated the photo was taken in Colorado that he really gained interest. Without being too long-winded, he backed his opinion by noting the large dish-shaped skull, noticeable shoulder hump, smaller ears compared to a black bear, and pelage that matched a grizzly (although pelage obviously isn’t a sole identifier).

Best comment right here. Thanks for sharing!!

 

[Deleted member 28227]

I like when the AGFC guy said the vast majority of sightings are just house cats lol.

It really is shocking the number of regular, normally trustworthy folks that have told me they for sure have seen a black panther. Probably about the same number that have seen extraterrestrial UFOs.

Yeah also the bit about lions not exactly being subtle and leaving evidence they are around...

Also greentree’s photo and the bobcat-lion on the trail cam have some hilarious parallels.

 

[LuketheDog]

Bigfoot report describes odd encounter in Colorado's Summit County

I bet it was a hairy hippy...guy or gal, take your pick

 

[LuketheDog]

Couple years in and it looks like a bunch of you folks need to listen to Mr. Newcomb on the new Bear Grease podcast.

Apparently Adam has been hunt'n Arkansas and been showing his trail cam pics off...

My neighbor is from Alabama, and a heavy drinker it seems from the times I've talked to him, he told me the other day he'd seen a big bobcat in his back yard with a long tail. I said it was probably a mountain lion, he was still pretty sure it was a bobcat

 

[DouglasR]

Is that a bobcat?

"I'ma Shoot That MF" Husband Is A Hero For This.. Handles A Bobcat Like A Newborn & Then Throws The Animal After Attacking His Wife!

Posted by Thrillz

m.worldstar.com

 

[Prescott230]

Possibly a hybrid?

According to Adam's followers there are Brown/Grizzly in CO. I'd like to see him say what general area.

South San Juan’s. Last documented Grizzly was killed outside of Pagosa Springs in 1979. It’s called the Wiseman bear after the hunting guide who was attacked by the sow . There have been sightings throughout the years in the area and she was said to have nursed Cubs throughout her life. If there are any bears left , there may be a couple hold up in a wildlife refuge area near where she was killed. It’d be a very small isolated population of bears on they’re last leg. I believe Adam saw his bear in the San Juan’s but I can’t be sure. I was up there recently and it’s definitely prime bear habitat.

 

[Prescott230]

Way late to this page but thought I would give my two cents nonetheless. I showed the second photo to my Mammology professor at Colorado State University, and asked for his take on what species it was. I didn’t ask anything that would have influenced a particular response, such as, “What do you think about the shoulder hump?” or anything along those lines. I also didn’t mention where the photo was taken. He responded in an almost annoyed manner as he was able to come to the conclusion that it was a grizzly very quickly. It wasn’t until I stated the photo was taken in Colorado that he really gained interest. Without being too long-winded, he backed his opinion by noting the large dish-shaped skull, noticeable shoulder hump, smaller ears compared to a black bear, and pelage that matched a grizzly (although pelage obviously isn’t a sole identifier).

This is the best response I’ve heard. I’m 60/40 on it. I’ve been reading a lot of books on the last Grizzly killed there in 1979. One you should read is The Lost Grizzlies. The guys who wrote it found pretty good evidence in 1997 that there were still a small isolated population of Grizzlies hiding out in the South San Juan’s . Nature has a way of prevailing when it wants to ,so who’s to say the bear Adam saw wasn’t say one of a few bears left.I just wish someone would get a clearer pic of one .

 

[MTLabrador]

From this thread I have learned that I wouldn’t take a mammalogy class at Colorado State. The Instagram bear is a black bear.

Black bear



Real grizzly

 

[MTLabrador]

Is there a huntable population of elk in these mountains? If so, then I would bet every dollar I own that there is not a population of grizzly bears flying under the radar.

Grizzly bears just aren't animals that are able to fly under the radar. If there's an elk hunting season, then there's a shit load of trail cameras out there every summer that would have real proof, and not a grainy digiscope picture.

Grizzlies populations are expanding in MT right now as we speak, and you can basically watch in real time as confirmed sightings follow these bears in to territory they haven't been in 100 years- https://www.kpax.com/news/western-montana-news/grizzly-bears-seen-in-more-western-mt-locations

And this is in an area with a fraction of the human population that Colorado has.

And come on, what are the actual odds that the first confirmed sighting would be by a poacher from Australia who has built a career off of drawing attention to himself?

This. When a grizzly shows up in the Big Hole, the Little Belts, or the Snowies they get into trouble or are spotted in a hurry. A population of grizzlies surviving 40 years in Colorado without being seen is less likely than Sasquatch.

 

[cedahm]

This is the best response I’ve heard. I’m 60/40 on it. I’ve been reading a lot of books on the last Grizzly killed there in 1979. One you should read is The Lost Grizzlies. The guys who wrote it found pretty good evidence in 1997 that there were still a small isolated population of Grizzlies hiding out in the South San Juan’s . Nature has a way of prevailing when it wants to ,so who’s to say the bear Adam saw wasn’t say one of a few bears left.I just wish someone would get a clearer pic of one .

I've read both Bass' and Petersen’s books on the topic. Bass in particular has some compelling thoughts (Actually, I thought his best writing was the part where they disassembled and repacked bearings on the ground up some horrible FS road. That and the nuanced descriptions of the sacks of Chile peppers they brought).

But despite their observations - and despite how neat it would be - it is very challenging to imagine a breeding population, however small, of Grizzly bears in Colorado. They just don’t.

The population of this state has doubled in that time period since the Wiseman bear. Visitation to wild places, even as remote as the SSJWA, is through the roof. People have had excellent cameras in their pockets (ntm strapped to trees recording 24/7/365) at all times for a decade. Someone would have seen a bear and had a photo by now.

I enjoyed the books and even poked around down there years ago, and I can even buy a scenario where a young offspring or two of the wiseman bear survived a decade or two. But the odds of a remnant population of grizzlies down there are so minuscule as to effectively be = ‘zero’.

 

[RobertD]

Is there a huntable population of elk in these mountains? If so, then I would bet every dollar I own that there is not an undocumented population of grizzly bears in there.

Grizzly bears just aren't animals that are able to fly under the radar. If there's an elk hunting season, then there's a shit load of trail cameras out there every summer that would have real proof, and not a grainy digiscope picture.

Grizzly populations are expanding in MT right now as we speak, and you can basically watch in real time as confirmed sightings follow these bears in to territory they haven't been in 100 years- https://www.kpax.com/news/western-montana-news/grizzly-bears-seen-in-more-western-mt-locations

And this is in an area with a fraction of the human population that Colorado has.

And come on, what are the actual odds that the first confirmed sighting would be by a poacher from Australia who has built a career off of drawing attention to himself?

Nice. I use a similar argument when trying (and failing) to convince people we don't have mountain lions in Southern Georgia

 

[Bluffgruff]

Nice. I use a similar argument when trying (and failing) to convince people we don't have mountain lions in Southern Georgia

Mountain lions come through south Georgia, but they don't breed, and young mtn lion males move a lot farther than grizzlies (see the Tennessee cougar that wandered from the black hills.) One cougar was killed in the Columbus Ga area from the south florida population a few years ago. I'm too lazy to find the articles.

Bottom line, even secretive cats get seen, so a not so secretive bear would be unlikely to escape the attention of 3000-6000 archery elk hunters every year for 40 years.

See the pic of that last Grizzly's skull next to a Kodiak bear skull. Both in the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.