The Missing Grizzly Cubs Read online

  “There’s a caribou!”

  Again more voices, this time quieter. People pointed and clicked cameras. Buck found the caribou with the binoculars, then handed them to Toni, who in turn handed them to Romana and Gerald. At the front of the bus, Shoop was back at the window, his camera resting on the window frame, capturing the lone caribou walking across the tundra, Denali in the background.

  “What’s he doing?” Toni whispered to Buck.

  “Filming, it looks like. I don’t think he’s sick anymore.”

  “No, not Shoop. I mean Rek.”

  Buck looked across the aisle and turned back to Toni.

  “That’s weird. He’s brought a map up on his phone,” he whispered, “but Shoop told me you can’t get a signal in the park.”

  “Let me have your camera.” Toni snapped a picture so discreetly, Buck barely realized she had taken one. Then she looked at the picture, zooming in on Rek’s device.

  “It’s not a phone,” she whispered, showing Buck the picture. “It’s a GPS receiver. He doesn’t need a signal. GPS receivers bounce off satellites, phones bounce off towers.”

  “Oh,” Buck said, wondering if he’d missed that in the junior ranger booklets. “Why would he keep checking his GPS? He doesn’t need directions. He’s on a bus. Besides, there’s only one road.”

  “The only time he sits up and pays attention is when animals are around,” Toni said. “I think he’s recording where they are.”

  As soon as the bus started moving again, Rek put his head back. Twenty minutes later the bus stopped so everyone could look at a herd of caribou grazing on the tundra.

  “Those are all females,” Jerry informed them. “Both males and females have antlers, but the male’s antlers are bigger. Females stay together, with the young. Mature males only come to the herd during rut.”

  Before looking at the caribou, both Buck and Toni glanced across the aisle. Rek was busy with the GPS again.

  They had been on the bus for more than two hours when Jerry turned off the main road and entered a parking lot.

  “This is the Toklat River rest stop,” Jerry announced. “We’ll be here twenty minutes. You can usually see Dall sheep on the mountainside across the river. That big tent is a gift shop, and on the patio, caribou and moose antlers are on display. Feel free to pick them up.”

  The aisle was instantly jammed with people. By the time Buck and Toni got off the bus, Dad and Shoop were already by the river, Shoop’s camera aimed high at the cliffs. Using his binoculars, Buck spotted the bright white sheep with curved brown horns. They ran along very narrow cliff edges without any hesitation. He watched them for a minute, sharing the binoculars with Toni, and then headed toward the antler display.

  “Come here, Toni,” Buck called, holding out his camera. “Take a picture of me being a caribou.”

  “When I get back,” Toni answered. “I want to look in the gift shop first before it gets too crowded. Another bus just pulled in.”

  Buck looked toward the parking area. A second bus had parked next to theirs and its doors were just opening. The first person off was a boy about Buck’s age. Without hesitating, he came racing across to the antler display.

  “Hey, I’ll take your picture,” Buck said to the boy, “if you’ll take mine.”

  “Sure!” the boy said. Buck gave the boy his camera and then picked up the huge set of antlers attached to each side of the top part of a caribou skull. But he only got them to chest height before he put them back down.

  “Man, those caribou must be strong to hold these things on their heads all the time,” Buck said. “They’re so heavy, I can’t even lift them up to my head.”

  Gerald was walking by.

  “Here, boys, let me help you,” he said. Gerald lifted the antlers to Buck’s head. Once Buck had them balanced, Gerald stepped away and the boy snapped a picture. Gerald helped the other boy too and then wandered off to watch the Dall sheep.

  “You’re part of that film crew, aren’t you?” the boy asked as they headed toward the moose antlers.

  “Yeah, how’d you know about that?” Buck answered.

  The boy pointed to the writing on Buck’s shirt. “Our bus driver told us a kid is making a TV show in the park and we may see you filming some of it. Must be exciting.”

  “Not really,” Buck said, shrugging. “What’s your name?”

  “Declan,” the boy said. “I’m here camping with my family.”

  “Are you camping at Tek? I didn’t see you at the bus stop.”

  “No, Savage River. It’s in the front country.”

  They had reached the moose antlers, and they each picked one up.

  “Wow,” Buck said, “a single moose antler is heavier than the pair of caribou antlers were!”

  As they took turns taking each other’s pictures, Declan announced, “Here come my little sister and brother.”

  Buck turned around and saw Toni heading toward them. A girl about Toni’s height walked beside her, and a smaller boy tagged along behind.

  “This is Anna,” Toni told Buck.

  “And I’m Liam,” the younger boy said. “Can I hold that?”

  “Sure,” Buck said. He helped the younger boy pick up the moose antler, and Declan snapped a picture.

  “We bought you some Beary Bites,” Anna said as Buck put the antler back on the ground. She gave Buck and Declan each a package.

  “And I found this for you too,” Toni added. She handed Buck a small bag. Declan looked over Buck’s shoulder as he pulled out a white sign with a silhouette of a bear on it. Bright red letters said: AREA CLOSED—BEAR DANGER. Smaller black letters read: ENTERING A CLOSED AREA OR REMOVAL OF THIS SIGN IS PUNISHABLE BY A FINE OF UP TO $500 OR IMPRISONMENT FOR 6 MONTHS OR BOTH.

  “Where did you get this?” Buck asked Toni. “You could go to jail for taking it.”

  “I didn’t take it; I bought it. The lady in the gift shop told me there are real ones just like it, except they don’t have the stuff on the back.” Buck turned over the sign. On the back was information about bears and about the sign.

  “They really mean it about not taking the real ones, don’t they?” Declan said.

  “Yeah,” Toni agreed.

  “Thanks! It will look great with all my bear pictures!” Buck said.

  Dad and Shoop were coming across the patio toward them. “Time to get back to the bus, guys,” Shoop said.

  Buck and Toni said good-bye to their new friends and raced each other across the parking lot. When they got to the last seat, Rek and the teenager were still there, both with their heads back and eyes shut. Soon the bus pulled out of the Toklat rest area.

  Buck opened the package of Beary Bites and shared the bear-shaped fruit drops with Toni as the bus drove up one mountain, down the other side, and started across another bridge.

  “Can I put this in your backpack?” Buck asked, tired of having the sign on his lap.

  “Sure,” Toni answered. She let Buck slide out of the seat. He pulled her backpack from the rack and carefully put the sign in it so it wouldn’t get bent. As he was zipping up the backpack, someone called out, “Bears! Two of them. A sow with a cub!”

  The bus quickly stopped at the side of the road. Buck dropped the backpack on the seat, and as he pulled his camera from his pocket, he saw Rek pull out his GPS device. Toni was already at the window, and Buck squished in between her and the back of the Rails’ seat.

  About fifty feet from the window stood a huge blond grizzly, head down, eating blueberries. Everyone was very quiet. Buck slid the window down to take a better picture. He could hear the bear pulling branches through her teeth, raking in the blueberries. She went from plant to plant, never even looking at the bus.

  The cub was darker than its mother. It was standing on its hind legs, looking intently in the opposite direction toward a thick clump of alder bushes. Soon a soft chorus of wow and awesome quietly echoed through the bus as another cub stepped out from behind the alders. This one was the same
blondish-gold as its mother. It was also eating blueberries. The dark cub dropped to its feet and charged at the golden cub. Together they tumbled and wrestled with each other. The mother paid no attention. She just continued eating, and everyone continued watching until Jerry finally pulled the bus away.

  TAKE 7:

  “DID YOU KNOW A GRIZZLY BEAR CAN EAT MORE THAN TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND BLUEBERRIES A DAY? THAT’S A LOT OF BLUEBERRIES!”

  Craig was waiting for them at the Stony Dome overlook. When Buck stood up, he noticed Rek’s GPS receiver was still on, resting in his hand on his lap. Rek’s head was back again. Buck pulled out his camera and took another picture. When he got off the bus, he zoomed in on the screen and clearly saw a set of numbers and letters: 63º27´50´´ N 150º12´28´´ W.

  Dad and Shoop were talking with Craig about the bears they had just seen. Buck showed the picture of the GPS reading to Toni.

  “I know the N and W mean north and west,” he said. “But I don’t know what the degrees, feet, and inches marks mean.”

  “Craig will know,” Toni said. Buck didn’t have a chance to ask him, though. They all piled into Craig’s truck and headed back up the road in the same direction they had come from. Craig stopped so far from the grizzly and her two cubs, they could barely see them.

  “This is a safe distance from the sow and cubs,” he said.

  “We’ll go up that hill. I’d like a shot in the tundra,” Shoop said, pointing to the opposite side of the road. “Toni, keep the shotgun aimed. I want some covert audio.”

  Buck looked at Toni. “What’s he talking about?”

  Toni didn’t answer. She put on the earphones but didn’t seem to be aiming the shotgun mic at anything. It just sat cradled in her arms with its end sticking out sideways between her and Buck as everyone crossed the road.

  “The tundra is so springy!” Buck said as soon as he stepped from the road. “Just like a trampoline!” He went from one rounded tuft of plants to another, bouncing like he was moonwalking.

  “And look at the blueberries! They’re everywhere!” Buck pulled off a handful in one swipe and popped them into his mouth. He kept eating handful after handful, juice pouring down his chin, until he was high on the hill. Buck scanned the bears with his binoculars. They were way below them and across the road. “They’re still stuffing themselves with blueberries too.”

  “We might as well go ahead with the scripted blueberry scene,” Shoop said. He handed Buck a kerchief. “Wipe your mouth off. You want to start with a clean face. Then pick a whole handful of blueberries but don’t eat them. Stand over here, holding the berries out with both hands cupped like a bowl.”

  Buck cleaned off his face and gathered a bunch of blueberries. Dad added even more. He had so many, they were pouring out of his hands.

  “Angle your hands just a little so I can see the berries,” Shoop continued. “Good. That’s great. Now look right at the camera and when I say, ‘Action,’ say your line about the blueberries. Then stuff all the berries in your mouth, look back up, and smile.”

  Buck got ready. His heart was beating as hard as when the moose had charged him. When they had recorded the first scene, he had been so excited about the caribou kill, he didn’t have time to be nervous. This was different. This time he had to remember one of the scripts he had been practicing. Don’t mess it up, he thought.

  “Okay, you look good,” Shoop said, peering through the camera. “How’s the sound?”

  “Buck, say your line just like you will when we shoot,” Toni said.

  He got halfway through his line when Toni interrupted.

  “Too loud,” Toni said. “Just use your normal voice.”

  Buck started his lines again. He got a few words out, and Toni spoke up.

  “That’s fine. We’re good to go.”

  Dad held up the whiteboard, this time saying Blueberries, Take 1. The little red light came on and Shoop stated, “Action.”

  “Did you know a grizzly bear can eat over two hundred thousand blueberries a day? That’s a lot of blueberries!” Buck put his hands up to his mouth and crammed in as many berries as he could. With his mouth stuffed full and purple juice pouring down his chin, he looked at the camera, grinned, and said, “Mmmmmm!”

  “Cut.” The little red light turned off. “Audio?”

  “No go,” Toni called out. “I need a windscreen.” She rummaged through her backpack, pulled out a black furry thing, and put it over the mic like a sock.

  “We’ll have to shoot it again,” Shoop said. “Wipe your mouth off and get some more blueberries.”

  As Buck gathered more blueberries, he looked down the hill and across the road. The bears were no longer directly behind him.

  “Should I move over there?” he asked Shoop. “You won’t be able to see the bears from here now.”

  “That doesn’t matter,” Shoop said. “I’ve already got footage of the bears. When I get done editing, you’ll see them down below you.”

  Dad changed the 1 to a 2 on the whiteboard, and they reshot the scene. Shoop checked the shot and said, “That’s a wrap. Let’s shoot the opening scene across the road. Those alders will be perfect.”

  Buck waited while Shoop and Toni set up. Then he walked slowly across the tundra, sometimes sneaking behind alder bushes and peering out, sometimes crouching low.

  “Hi! I’m Buck Bray, and I’m in Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska. I’ve just spotted a grizzly bear and her two cubs.” Buck spoke very quietly as if he really were creeping up on a 450-pound grizzly and her 100-pound cubs. But in reality, the bears were almost a mile away.

  They made a few other shots and then put the equipment back into the truck.

  “I didn’t know it would be like that,” Buck told Dad.

  “You can’t believe everything you see on TV. There’s a lot of manipulation to make things appear the way you want the viewers to see them.”

  “Could we get some audio on those bears eating?” Shoop asked Craig. “I couldn’t do that from the bus, but I could hear them. It was incredible.”

  They piled into the truck. Craig drove slowly, pulling to the side of the road when they neared the bears. Shoop sat in front on the passenger side, camera pointed out the window. Toni sat behind him, the earphones on, holding the shotgun mic out her window. Buck sat beside her and Dad next to him. The bears never even glanced toward the truck.

  “It’s not that they’re used to people,” Craig informed them. “They really just don’t give a darn. They’re at the top of the food chain and they know it. With no hunting in Denali, they have nothing to worry about, and right now all they’re thinking about is filling their bellies before winter. They’ll be on a feeding frenzy from now until they hibernate.”

  As Shoop shot the bears eating, Toni pointed to the earphones and gave a thumbs-up to indicate she was getting good sound. The sow and the cubs were side by side. They walked parallel to the road as they ate, but the dark cub turned and wandered toward the truck. Shoop kept the camera pointed at the cub. Buck thought if the cub didn’t look up soon, it would walk right into the side of the truck. The sow lifted her head and looked toward the cub. Suddenly the sow sprang up on her hind legs and roared so loud, Toni jumped and let out a little cry. Shoop gave her a hard look, and she quickly covered her mouth with her hand.

  The cub turned to look at its mother but stayed beside the truck. Still standing upright, the sow made another loud roar, and the cub dashed back to its mother’s side. The sow dropped back to her feet but gave the cub a vigorous spank with her paw. The cub bawled out, but the sow ignored it and returned to eating, moving farther away from the truck. Neither cub left her side again.

  “That was awesome!” Buck said when Shoop finally put the camera down.

  “It sure was,” Craig said. “I’ve seen a lot of bears, but I’ve never seen one get after its cub like that.”

  “Did I mess it up, Shoop?” Toni asked. “Her roaring startled me. It sounded like she was right nex
t to me in those earphones!”

  “I bet!” Shoop said. “But don’t worry, we’ll have plenty of sound to work with.”

  TAKE 8:

  “GRIZZLIES ARE GREAT DIGGERS AND CAN EASILY TEAR THROUGH THE EARTH INTO THE TUNNELS OF THE ARCTIC GROUND SQUIRREL IN SEARCH OF A TASTY TREAT!”

  TUESDAY, AUGUST 13

  The next morning they were eating breakfast at the picnic table when Craig pulled up in his truck.

  “I’ve got an idea you guys are going to love! Buck, how would you like to go into a bear den?”

  Buck’s fork stopped midway to his mouth.

  “Are you serious? I’d love it!”

  “What if the bear comes back while he’s in there?” Toni asked.

  “No worries.” Craig laughed. “It’s an abandoned den, but it will require several miles of hiking. Will you guys be able to do that with your equipment?”

  “Sure,” Shoop assured him. “I’ll take what I need and leave the rest in the truck.”

  It was several hours’ drive, and they saw wildlife along the way, including the sow bear and her cubs, but they didn’t take time to stop. Just past the Stony Dome overlook, the road made several hairpin turns, zigzagging sharply back and forth until it finally reached the bottom of the steep hill. At the bottom Craig parked at the side of the road. As they gathered their things, Craig pulled two canisters out from under the seat, identical to the one he always wore in a cloth holster on his belt. They looked like cans of hair spray, but stuck on the tops were trigger mechanisms similar to those on a pistol.

  “Here,” Craig said, handing one to Dad and the other to Shoop. “I noticed yesterday you didn’t have any bear spray. You should always have it with you in this country.”