August 2024 Wildlife Photography Contest Intermediate Winner

My partner and I were staying at the Silver Salmon Creek Lodge, located along the western shores of Cook Inlet in south-central Alaska, hoping to capture photos of Alaskan grizzly bears.

One afternoon, as we set out to find bears in their natural habitat, we were startled to pass a cabin where, to our surprise, a bear was chewing on a doormat. At first, we were taken aback to find a bear so close to our cabin, but lucky for us, we had the presence of mind to snap some photos of this unique encounter.

It wasn’t until I downloaded the images to my computer that I noticed the amusing detail: a “Wipe Your Paws Please” sign beside the doormat.

Photographing bears in the wild was such an exciting experience! What I discovered is that bears love to frolic and play, much like dogs—though you can never forget that they are, in fact, much bigger and far more dangerous.