Teton Totem was ecstatic in grizzly bear terms.  The weather had turned cold and we had just brought him piles of sweet smelling hay to line his den.  His eyes held a look of intense excitement.  Ever so carefully, like someone handling precious cargo, he reached out and pulled in the piles.  For the next few hours an 850-pound bear slowly, deliberately, delicately, arranged and rearranged and further arranged his bed.  For all his size he made his nest as meticulously as a little bird, gathering and filling in, circling, inspecting, making sure everything was just so.

When we returned in a few hours he had settled back, having pulled a huge pile under his now considerable bulk and personal padding (compliments of summer months of very excellent food – salmon and eggs and raspberries and mangos and pomegranates and grapes and peaches and pears …).  All we could see peering out at us was a nose, eyes, and perfect, round furry ears.  We looked further in:  it was the coziest, it was the warmest, it was the most inviting nest you can imagine.  He was covered with hay, surrounded with hay, luxuriating in hay.  He had arranged his log just the way he wanted it, piled hay on top, and laid his head on the soft pillow.  He was reclining on his back, his legs propped up on his bowling ball, bottoms of his back feet almost touching the roof of his den.  Jean placed his winter treats inside the den – grapes, strawberry cream, and golden delicious apples.  Teton glanced at it, but was just too cozy to move.  The food was close, but very far away.  Jean, ever aware of sensual needs, plucked a grape, reached out his hand, and held it to Teton’s lips.  Teton sucked it in.  Jean held his arm outstretched for a moment longer in a gesture of giving.  Teton reached out a huge paw and touched Jean’s hand, eyes soft. Man and bear, paw and hand.  Jean swears the look he saw was love and appreciation.

The sweet burst of juice as he bit into the plump grape was just too much … he pushed himself over on his side very slowly, reached out for the bunch, brought them to his pillow, leaned back in place, and began to eat them one by one.

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