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[clarki]

Came across a bear smorgasbord today. Good numbers of chum in the stream today, more so than in the past couple of years, so nice to see the bears and other critters getting a good feed before winter.


Although I did see evidence of some behaviour that I don't recall seeing before; whole chum just with part of the head missing. You'll notice the bites are very precise. The upper and lower jaws are intact, but the whole top of the head is missing. I've seen plenty of bear chum picnics but I don't recall seeing this before, or at least so many similar in the same small area. I guess it means the bears are well fed and can afford to be picky.

[Rodney]

Zombie bears, only eating the brains.

[RalphH]

eggs and brains is where the protein and fat is... maximizes weight gain. Work for me too! 

Sure it wasn't otters?

[clarki]

Sure it wasn't otters?

Hmm, good suggestion Ralph. The precise eating would suggest an otter. I presumed a bear cuz they are very common in the area, and the large matted down area of grass where many of the fish were found. There is an otter family that does frequent the area a little bit downstream. That does seem a bit more likely and better explains what I thought was unusual bear  activity.

[psd1179]

otter for sure

[Dave]

I've seen that often on coastal rivers, but never in the interior.  I always assumed this was done by bears but now I'm wondering if perhaps it may be otters... having said that I have never seen otters feeding on dead fish.

[Every Day]

I'm unsure of the assumption of otters.

Up at hill creek while working, we got talking with the keeper of meadow creek nearby. He said the grizzlies were catching his kokanee and doing this exact thing as above - a small bite out of the top of the head and sometimes they'd eat the eggs. That was on fairly small fish, and some real big bears.

As another side note, I'm in the same realm of experience with Dave. I've watched a lot of otter and mink, not once have I seen them eat a dead fish. I've even watched them pass up older coho and Chinook on the sproat, only to catch a steelhead nearby. I've also never seen them drag all their fish to one area like this.

Any poop piles nearby?

[RalphH]

seals will also make the same bite often eating only the brains of male salmon. Otters will live in family groups of a mother an a couple of years of pups. I saw a group of 5 or 6 on the Harrison some years back - I have photos somewhere. The number of fish made me wonder if this might have been such a group. I have also seen otter kills of fish including spent steelhead on shore. Of those fish I think 3 were certainly killed alive. One has lots of skin fungal growth but may have been killed while still alive. I had a spring in similar that sort of shape follow me around while wading last week. The fish with the guts pulled out looks like it was scavenged, perhaps by raccoons or eagles. Bear will also eat salmon carcasses. I don't think otters do.

No way of knowing though I wondered if it may have been something other than a bear. Scat or prints would tell you it was bear. A bear feeding like that would take a dump every half or so so I'd think there'd be something!

[clarki]

No scat that I saw. Some bear scat on a game trail about a 100 yds away, but none in the immediate vicinity of the fish. And no footprints; grass goes right to the water's edge. 

That's part of the reason why I love fishing, particularly this area, and particularly on foot. All these critters leave signs of their presence and their activity, and it just takes an observant eye and a sense of curiosity to understand (or not!) what is going on in the world when you're not there, and sometimes when you are!     

[cutthroat22]

Seen a similar scene in Upper Squamish area tributary of a tributary.  There was snow on the ground as well so it was quite a bloodbath.  Could not figure out what ate the brains either.

[mcallagan]

Sure it wasn't human caused?
Looks like it may have been cut out being so precise.
I've seen up the Harrison a few years ago Fisheries catching Chinook cutting out parts and leaving the rest.
I asked them what it was for and they said some sort of study.

[Dave]

Sure it wasn't human caused?
Looks like it may have been cut out being so precise.
I've seen up the Harrison a few years ago Fisheries catching Chinook cutting out parts and leaving the rest.
I asked them what it was for and they said some sort of study.

The procedure you are talking about is otolith bone removal.  Most people who know how to remove this bone (used for aging the fish), or have been taught properly, will not leave the fish in such a mess, lol!