The American black bear (Ursus americanus) is a most interesting species, especially in the spring when a mother with young cubs is encountered. Such was the case one May on a quiet section of highway in Yellowstone National Park. Parked in a pullout overlooking the Yellowstone River, a mother black bear suddenly appeared with her two little cubs. Eating sparsely green shoots of grass, she came down the hill with her two little charges in tow. As public interest in the bears increased to an intolerable level, the mother retreated up the hill sending the two cubs up a tree. This photo is one of the black bear cubs in a Douglas fir tree.