The Missing Grizzly Cubs by Judy Young

Author:Judy Young
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781585369706
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press

TAKE 10:

“A GRIZZLY USES BODY LANGUAGE TO SHOW ITS MOOD. HEAD SWINGING, SWATTING, AND JAW POPPING ARE CLEAR SIGNS OF BEING UPSET.”

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 14

The next morning it was cold and overcast, but Buck and Toni were excited about going to the compass class on their own. Again the backseats were vacant, and Buck headed straight for them.

“I’m glad Rek isn’t on this one,” Toni told Buck as the bus pulled away.

“Me too,” Buck said. “I don’t see anyone I recognize. We even have a different bus driver.”

Just like Jerry had, this driver kept up a running commentary as he drove.

“Everyone is interested in the big five,” he said. “Grizzlies, moose, caribou, wolves, and Dall sheep. I’m sure we’ll see grizzlies, caribou, and sheep. Maybe even a moose if we’re lucky. Probably not a wolf. They’re rarely sighted. But I’m more interested in the little five: black bears, lynx, red fox, wolverine, and beavers. Actually, thirty-nine different mammals live in the park. We also have ermine, river otters, Arctic ground squirrels, snowshoe hares, hoary marmots, martens, mink, weasels, and pika, not to mention various kinds of shrews, voles, and other rodents, including one kind of mouse, a meadow jumping mouse, and one bat, the little brown bat.”

From there the driver went on to list birds, then insects, and finally ended the list of animals with the only amphibian, the wood frog.

“In the winter the wood frog freezes solid. Its heart stops beating, and it doesn’t breathe until spring, when it thaws out.”

“I feel like a wood frog,” Buck said to Toni. “I’m about to freeze solid.”

The window just in front of them would not stay shut. The people sitting beside it had tried to shut it, but just a little bump would send it sliding down again, the cold damp air blowing right into Buck’s and Toni’s faces.

Buck stood up to see if there was another seat open, but the bus was filled. So he pulled his backpack down from the rack and took his jacket from it. He handed Toni her backpack, and she pulled out a jacket, mittens, and a knit hat.

The driver had moved on to lists of plants, starting with trees. There weren’t too many types, just eight species of spruce, willows, and birch. Then he started up on shrubs and flowers and then on to nonflowering plants. Buck and Toni looked out the window at the passing landscape. Having been up and down the road several times now, they recognized places and saw how Craig and the bus drivers knew where certain animals hung out. The big grizzly boar was spotted in the braided riverbed. Not at the exact spot as the other day but downstream a little ways. Although Denali was now behind clouds, the lone caribou that had stood in front of the mountain was still around. This time, though, it was walking near the road. A few miles farther a big herd grazed, but now the caribou were on the opposite side of the road.

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