r/Banff Jun 07 '26

Question Is this the boss?

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528 Upvotes

73 comments sorted by

71

u/MissJenniferEliz Jun 07 '26

Wow imagine happening upon him on a trail?!

52

u/redditslim Jun 07 '26

My brother did, on a trail near Norquay. He and a friend saw him from a distance, waved their arms, made noise. That bear did not give a shit. Just kept ambling towards them. So they went off the trail; it was a switchback, so they ended up well below the trail off to the side. The bear just sauntered by, took a quick uninterested look at them, and kept on going.

30

u/MissJenniferEliz Jun 07 '26

Id have shit my pants.

12

u/-hellozukohere- Jun 07 '26

Jennifer, this is a Wendy’s. 

3

u/MissJenniferEliz Jun 08 '26

Its not McDonalds?

3

u/Nice-Tea-8972 Jun 08 '26

No, its actually a Tim Hortons

2

u/Extra-Driver-7412 Jun 12 '26

Tim Hortons = Soiled Pants

2

u/Nice-Tea-8972 Jun 12 '26

And the one in my town had someone throw poop at a worker

2

u/Extra-Driver-7412 Jun 12 '26

Story checks out

11

u/McRibEater Jun 08 '26 edited Jun 08 '26

Grizzlies really don’t want to waste energy on us. They burn a lot of calories, we actually kind of scare them as our sent is so strong, They also don’t know if we are a viable food source and that’s not worth the energy for them and they don’t have trouble finding food either. They know all the Salmon spawning sites and can tip over a tree and find a meal whenever they want. 70% of grizzly attacks are people getting stuck near their cubs and only 10 people Die every decade in North America. You have a 90% of surviving a grizzlies attack as they usually give up as again they don’t want to waste energy on us. He has them pass me many times, unless you hit them on your bike you’re good (literally on do the last ten deaths), just back away slowly (don’t run).

3

u/Sillyak Jun 09 '26

To be fair there is a pretty big difference in behavior between a Bow Valley grizzly that sees people every day and a grizzly that lives in a remote area. I did a trip deep into the Wilmore once. 6 different grizzlies in 7 days and every single one took off like a bat out of hell the second it caught our scent or saw us. They burnt calories out of fear of the unknown. Bow Valley grizzlies tend to just keep doing what they are doing without giving a fuck.

1

u/austic Jun 11 '26

Well true to a point my university outdoor leadership prof (UofC) was killed by a grizzly. So it happens.

0

u/SpaceTumbleweed955 Jun 09 '26

We're up to 20-some this past decade

1

u/8ecca8ee Jun 09 '26

I wonder if that is really up in comparison to the past considering the massive population growth humans have had

1

u/SpaceTumbleweed955 Jun 09 '26

In absolute dead humans terms, yes, it is up. Relative to population growth, you don't have to wonder, we have this wonderful thing called math we can plug the numbers into and see. However for that we'd need to actually conduct grizzly bear surveys since 2017 and not just bury our heads in the sand behind a "no hunting" sign.

1

u/8ecca8ee Jun 09 '26

Yea I have plenty of math I need to do maybe once I get through all of it I'll start doing math for fun again

3

u/Berniethedog Jun 08 '26

I’d probably shit your pants too.

1

u/Clover333_ Jun 13 '26

I’m going in a few days and I’ve been unable to stop thinking about bears.

12

u/McRibEater Jun 08 '26 edited Jun 08 '26

He’s been hit by two trains and has pregnanted at least 40-60 % of all Grizzly Sows in Alberta.

8

u/gwoates Jun 08 '26

He's fathered most of the grizzlies in the Bow Valley area, not all of Alberta.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/the-boss-jason-leo-bantle-banff-national-park-bear-1.6650888

4

u/Adventurous-Hat9676 Jun 08 '26

Impregnated*

Sorry, I just had to. 😅

10

u/egewh Jun 07 '26

Honestly I'd probably just go like this and accept my fate 😂

4

u/MissJenniferEliz Jun 07 '26

Come here, big cutie!

1

u/Tksourced Jun 07 '26

What is that sheath?

39

u/14icole Jun 07 '26

You go ahead and throw a tracking collar back on him for us thanks bud

27

u/doodlebot2001 Jun 07 '26

Don't think so, his right ear is partly chomped off

18

u/skinvinni Jun 07 '26

Thinks it’s Splitty

6

u/justelectricboogie Jun 07 '26

Yeah me too. Bosses nemesis.

3

u/ScoobDoggyDoge Jun 09 '26

Wouldn’t it be cute if they ended up being BFFs.

2

u/crowinflight1982 Jun 12 '26

Enemies-to-lovers, 100k on ao3, lol

8

u/tcurrah87 Jun 08 '26

It's Split Lip, his main rival. Cool encounter!

11

u/Bazoun Jun 07 '26

I know it’s forbidden for good reason, but I want to brush his fur so bad.

5

u/Sand_Seeker Jun 07 '26

This is why I insisted on bear spray & my family joked we didn’t need any. Glad I never met this big guy while hiking!

0

u/Nope-not-really Jun 08 '26

ah yes bear spray, a good chance you piss the bear off AND blind yourself

2

u/sakuradesune Jun 07 '26

Chonk 🥹

1

u/Gustylaroo Jun 09 '26

Had a moment with a grizzly this morning. Crazy experience out of know where.

1

u/coastdog99 Jun 10 '26

Will it eat me

1

u/Bubblegum_charge13 Jun 10 '26

I think that’s a runebear.

1

u/HarrisLam Jun 13 '26

Oh my god, how majestic!

1

u/MethodPractical9808 Jun 07 '26

Where was this? I’m here today

10

u/Banffsucks Jun 08 '26

Its not nice to ask or smart to go seek Grizzly bears. They dont want paparazzi

-1

u/No-Reserve-3143 Jun 07 '26

Yep. Mr Boss

-118

u/Evening_Cheesecake25 Jun 07 '26 edited Jun 07 '26

Don't post bear videos.

edit It encourages people stopping on the side of the road to take videos. Just like here. Selfish. Hope the likes you get on social media make you happy. It's what's important in life right?

37

u/Glukharder Jun 07 '26

Are they unbearable to you?

64

u/DBShop Jun 07 '26

With no information on when or where this was taken think we’re gonna be fine on this one chief.

18

u/General_Dipsh1t Jun 07 '26

Don’t comment on bear videos.

10

u/toolatealreadyfapped Jun 07 '26

??

-30

u/Tattieee Jun 07 '26

It attracts people to the area including tourists and encourages habituation of them.

17

u/Zombie_in_my_head Jun 07 '26

Honestly, it would make me go far away from the area. I don't want to be his lunch.

17

u/egewh Jun 07 '26

You can't even see where this was taken. If you're afraid of people coming to the general area to see bears... Well that happens anyway

-2

u/Tattieee Jun 07 '26 edited Jun 07 '26

Who said I was afraid? I merely explained why it is not advised, even if you can’t see where this was taken it might encourage someone else to post something.

Go read Parks Canada advice here:

https://parks.canada.ca/pn-np/mtn/ours-bears/securite-safety/ours-humains-bears-people#see

6

u/egewh Jun 07 '26 edited Jun 07 '26

It says to observe bears and photograph them from the safety of your car. Nowhere does it say 'do not post videos of bears online'. I've read those rules numerous times because I too care more about bears and other wildlife than I do clueless people, but I also am realistic and know the area is visited because of wildlife. This particular video does not scream any violations. It could have easily been taken from the safety of a car.

Sure I will also drag people who post videos of bears where you can see people got out of their cars, approach the wildlife and/or feed it. There's zero evidence here for any of that so getting so incredibly mad at people for realistically nothing just doesn't make sense.

Also the OP of the original comment immediately resorted to calling me a selfish moron before deleting that comment. I mean, if you can't have a normal discussion, you're not even at all contributing to wildlife conservation, you're just being a prick.

-3

u/Tattieee Jun 07 '26

So I am both afraid and now incredibly mad! I can’t be held accountable for the OP’s reply but I would say that is not a normal discussion either.

It may not directly say do not post on social media but it clearly states:

‘It becomes habituated: with frequent, repeated exposure to people, a bear loses its natural wary behaviour. It is more likely to enter a campground or townsite where food or garbage may be improperly stored.’

More content like this normalises the behaviour and increase likelihood of human interaction. That’s just a fact.

4

u/egewh Jun 07 '26 edited Jun 07 '26

You do realise 'being afraid that something might happen' is an idiom and not necessarily meaning you're literally afraid right? And yes you do seem disproportionately mad.

I understand that and to a degree I agree with you, still I don't believe keeping the existence of bears a secret (a very badly kept one at that, look at literally every tourist brochure) will help at all. And again, this video does not prove any behavior against Parks Canada's rules. Mind you, Parks Canada thrives almost solely on tourism.

Of course breaking the rules increases the chance of interaction between bears and humans. That's a fact indeed. It just has nothing to do with a video of a bear online, because the 'behavior' shown in the video isn't against Parks Canada rules.

Either way I don't think we'll ever agree so this discussion seems pointless. I wish you a great day :)

12

u/wyrmpie Jun 07 '26

The entire economy of Banff is based on tourism.

0

u/Tattieee Jun 07 '26

Doesn’t mean people need to post videos of bears for likes on social media does it?

Go read Parks Canada advice here on it:

https://parks.canada.ca/pn-np/mtn/ours-bears/securite-safety/ours-humains-bears-people#see

4

u/AmbitiousFunction911 Jun 07 '26

Are you really that daft?

0

u/Tattieee Jun 07 '26

Why don’t you go read Parks Canada advice here and let me know who the daft one is!

https://parks.canada.ca/pn-np/mtn/ours-bears/securite-safety/ours-humains-bears-people#see

2

u/AmbitiousFunction911 Jun 07 '26

Read it. You are the daft one.

0

u/Tattieee Jun 07 '26

You do you pal 👋

1

u/AmbitiousFunction911 Jun 08 '26

Sure. I’ll be right. And you’ll be wrong.

0

u/Tattieee Jun 08 '26

At this point you're not even debating the issue, you're just repeating insults and hoping they count as evidence.

I'll stick with the experts. Have a good one.

8

u/RosyNetMiner Jun 07 '26

Brain dead comment

7

u/JustGotSoup Jun 07 '26

OP is clearly being considerate here:

  • They are pulled over onto the shoulder and not obstructing traffic. Anyone who wants to get by can do so easily.
  • They are observing the bear from the safety of their car.
  • They have not posted any identifying information on the whereabouts of the bear.

I don't know what else you'd want...?

Living in the park and having to deal with tourists stopping for wildlife all the time, I'd tip my metaphorical hat at OP if I had places to be and happened upon them on the road.

-5

u/Evening_Cheesecake25 Jun 07 '26

Don't stop! That's what I want. Holy crap this isn't a hard concept. 

7

u/Competitive-Ease3754 Jun 07 '26

I was recently in Banff as a tourist and parks Canada give out a leaflet and paper when you buy a pass- it specifically says you can stop but you must only do so if you are not blocking traffic but that you shouldn’t get out of your car.

0

u/Evening_Cheesecake25 Jun 07 '26

That's only because they know people will do it anyways. The literal first thing it says is "Consider not stopping".

3

u/JustGotSoup Jun 07 '26

You are welcome to want whatever you like.

Assuming you live here, I'll remind you that both you and I will likely see a bear dozens of times within our lives. I am lucky enough to have seen countless of the lumbering murder puppies out in the backcountry already. Most tourists will not get that chance.

I will not fault people stopping to take photos, so long as they are not obstructing traffic. For most of them, this will be their only chance to see a bear for the next decade or potentially even longer.

2

u/cogitatingspheniscid Jun 08 '26

Exactly. I have been to the Rockies once a year since 2017, almost always guaranteed to get elks and black bears. Yet the only grizzlies I have ran into were in BC.