Being a grizzly cub can sometimes be a tough job. You have to get up in the morning, follow mom all over because she’s hungry, and if she’s hungry then there is a good chance you’re going to be hungry too. And because you are little you want to eat all the time and all you want is some of that nice warm milk that Mom provides. But like all moms she sometimes wants you to try something new, like some freshly caught and just squeezed Yellow-bellied Marmot.

After she has just spent 45 minutes digging one out of it’s den she is pretty determined that you are going to try some. It seems to be  a fairly difficult task to force down marmot this early in the day and it does not help at all that there are at least 50 or more photographers documenting your every move. The whole marmot eating thing turns out to be a game effort but lost cause because you just can’t handle that kind of food.

Expecting the worst everyone watching waited apprehensively as mom approached. It looked like this was going to be handled rather firmly and not by a time out either. Grizzly moms are known for a rather firm application of right front paw when they’re displeased. Instead mom did the right thing (moms usually do, right?) and carefully nuzzled her offspring’s face to show that it was perfectly ok to throw up in front of photographers. There was a chorus of awwww’s throughout the crowd and we were all happy and relieved to have witnessed what turned out to be a Disneyesque moment. There are a million stories in Yellowstone National Park and this has been one of them. There will be more as time goes on.