THE DAYOne day last spring in Yellowstone was so exceptional for grizzly bear photography that I simply refer to it now as The Day. It went like this: At the end of each winter as bison migrate back to Yellowstone's Northern Range, they must pass Blacktail Ponds. The ponds span the valley, and bison often break through the ice and drown. Bears emerging from hibernation know this and show up to fish the bison carcasses out. On The Day, there were four bears on a carcass. Two left before it got light, while the other two stayed. The dominant bear controlled the carcass while the other, this one, waited his turn. You could almost hear him thinking: " As long as I have to wait, what can I do to make these photographers happy? I'll bet they'd like it if I went over to this snowbank and rolled around for a little while. Then maybe if I went and swam in the pond, breaking up the ice and splashing in the water they'd like that. And then, If I'd lay down right below them and chew on some old bones, they'd really like that." It was amazing. For about half the day it was like this bear was following a script. It'll be a long time before another day like it.
