Cathy, a boar is a male bear. A female is called a sow. It is sort of like the names used for pigs, except young bears are called cubs while young pigs are called piglets. Isn't english an amazingly confusing language
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To all, thank you for your feedback. I am so glad that I had the opportunity to go to Yellowstone once again in the spring and was blessed with such amazing wildlife encounters. I am especially glad that I am able to share my trip with you.
To those considering a trip to Yellowstone, I only have one thing to say...GO. It is an amazing place if you are interested in the kinds of things it offers, which is primarily an abundance of geysers (more than the rest of the world put together) and other thermal features, an abundance of wildlife, and magnificent scenery.
I believe I should caution folks that you are unlikely to see as much wildlife as we did on this spring's trip. We were there for an entire month. Because of the frightful weather (snow, sleet, hail, rain, lightening, etc.) we spent a lot of time in the wheelchair van driving around the park. Even with all that, we only had 4 viewings of grizzly bears that were close enough to the road that binoculars or spotting scope (a terrestrial telescope) were optional. Most of the grizzlies we saw were at least a mile away and some were over two miles away.
On top of that, I have spent more than 600 nights in Yellowstone over the last 20 years (which is a true blessing!). During that time, I have learned were various wildlife hang out. I have gotten to know the behavior of individual bears, many of whom have nicknames among the serious bear watchers (Snow, Raspberry, Scarface, Blaze, Hobo, Obsidian, Quadmom, Beryl, etc.). I know where and when they might be more likely to be in a particular part of the park. Even with that knowledge, I strike out the vast majority of the time when looking for them.
I don't think I saw my first grizzly until about my 7th or 8th trip to the park. Now, it is a very rare week in the park when I don't spot at least one grizzly, though often that is at a range that requires a spotting scope for a meaning view.
While most of Yellowstone is not ADA compliant, with a bit of determination and a capable wheelchair, I find that it is amazingly accessible.
One other thought is that I am not the only person to have discovered the beauties of Yellowstone. Many, many people visit Yellowstone each year. A lot of the visitors are from other countries and the customs and culture in some of those countries are very different from ours. If you go, expect to see a lot of other folks and for some of those other folks to seem rude. Some actually are rude, but I am convinced many of the seemingly rude folks are just behaving in a way that conforms to the norms of their home country's culture.
We are well only our way to wrapping up preparations for our fall trip to Yellowstone. I can hardly wait to return there! This time we will be taking our first trip with our new-to-us monstrosity of a motorhome which is needed to better meet my needs. Here is a picture of it with my friend Greg working on the roof
Steve