Black Bear Cubs in Juneau

I’ve heard stories about bears climbing trees but I never thought I’d witness 3 cubs scrambling up a tree. One morning when I was at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center, I happened to be in the right place at the right time. All of a sudden, three small black bear cubs came walking through a nearby stream.

Uninterested with the salmon in the stream, the cubs played around with each other, gnawing on branches, climbing over rocks and bumping into each one another. One cub raced over to a nearby tree and started to climb it quickly followed by its brothers/sisters.

Climbing Trees by the Glacier

The cubs stayed in the tree for a bit checking out their new location. Then slowly, one by one they scooted back down the tree and landed safely on the ground. They didn’t stick around long and quickly scampered off to greet their mom who was walking through the stream bed.