“Dad! Dad! He’s right there!”

Trapping bears in Yellowstone National Park is usually an after-hours operation that requires Rangers who are a little smarter than the average bear.

And I’m quite certain that one particular ursus arctos horribilis wouldn’t necessarily agree with that profound statement.

There I was. Standing along the Grand Loop Road, pointing the antennas of a radio-tracking device toward Bridge Bay Campground trying to locate a very large grizzly bear who was making nightly strolls through the campground loops looking for an easy meal.

My 11-year-old son Chip who was a on Ride-A-Long with me was sitting in the Park Service pick-up when he spotted the grizzly walking toward me.   

I was so busy adjusting the frequency for this radio-collared grizzly, I hadn’t noticed the most ferocious and dangerous mammal in North America getting closer and closer.

“Dad! Dad! He’s right there!”

I immediately froze, stopped breathing, and tried not to panic.  “Don’t run.  Don’t run.”  I kept saying to myself.

As he walked by me, he turned his massive head toward me and gave me a look that said, “Got you,” and then made his way into the upper loops of Bridge Bay Campground and disappeared again.

Earlier that day, we had set up two bear traps in two of the campground loops hoping to capture this grizzly before he hurt someone during these nightly visits that were getting more frequent and brazen.

Slices of freshly cut cantaloupe were scattered on the ground just outside the bear trap and inside the steel culvert.  Once he entered the culvert trap, there would be more for him to feast on inside a bucket that was spring loaded to drop the steel door.

Keep in mind, this guy was a repeat offender. 

Later that night, the grizzly bear made his way to one of the bear traps in I Loop and devoured all of the bait on the ground.  He wanted nothing to do with the contents of the bear trap and no plans on entering the culvert for more delicious cantaloupe.  Instead, he climbed on top of the bear trap and jumped up and down which immediately triggered the steel door.

The sound of the cage door dropping down startled him.  He jumped off the culvert on wheels and came rushing toward me and stopped dead in his tracks in front of the front bumper of my patrol car.  He stood there looking over the hood and through the windshield at me.  And then, he walked off and disappeared into the woods again.

I called dispatch and asked for additional Rangers to respond to Bridge Bay Campground to drive up and down the loops and warn campers about the grizzly bear.

When I thought it was safe for me to get out of the car, I pushed the release button for the shotgun rack, grabbed the shotgun, and chambered a slug round.  I had to follow this guy and see where he was headed.

I hadn’t walked 10 feet when two women in their early twenties appeared out of nowhere.  Seeing me, they seemed to have real inquisitive looks on their faces.  It’s not every day you come across a Park Ranger sneaking through the woods with a shotgun.

“What’s going on?  Is there a bad guy out there running around or something?”

“Listen to me.  There’s a grizzly bear just a short distance off in the woods from us.  I want you to get inside the bathroom right over there and stay put until it’s safe to come out.”

I didn’t have to say it twice.  They both scurried off to the safety of the park service comfort station (bathroom) and slammed the door behind them.

I resumed my tracking.  I moved cautiously and quietly through the upper loops of Bridge Bay Campground.

After hours of walking through the campground, I decided it was time to call it a night.  I was pretty confident our grizzly bear had moved on and was no longer a threat in the campground. 

I drove home to my residence in Fishing Bridge Village and told my wife about another exciting day at the office.

Early the next morning, I drove to Lake Ranger Station to complete an Incident Report for the Bear Management Team.  As soon as I stepped in the doorway, the day-shift supervisor informed me about a visitor complaint.

“Rick.  Did you tell two ladies to get into a bathroom last night and stay there until it was safe to come out?”

“I sure did.”

“Well.  That’s exactly what they did.  The only problem is they thought you’d come back to let them know it was safe to come out.  Turns out, they spent most of the night in the bathroom waiting for you.”

“Whoops. You think I should drive over to Bridge Bay Campground and apologize?”

“Probably a good idea Ranger Rick.” 

And that’s what I did.