What do you do when you see a sign reading: "bear in area", with or without the warning word after it? I get a bit nervous, especially when I round corners. Bears are unpredictable. Some bears will look at you and just walk away. Others will charge without warning. And all the advice you may have read about just doesn't apply to this bear. One thing to always remember is that you cannot outrun a bear. So if you do encounter a bear don't run. He is either going to just look at you and walk away, or he will be upset and charge you. Then your options require a bit more imagination and daring.
Come to think of it, I have had several close encounters of the bear kind over the last few years. My wife and I along with our 3 sons lived just outside of Canmore, Alberta, 20 minutes from Banff National Park (Canadian Rockies). We had a black bear that used to wander through the townhouses as part of his daily tour from his home, to the Bow River, across Pidgeon Creek, through the parking lot, back to the Three Sisters campground and home. One afternoon we looked out our window and saw this large black bear standing on his hind feet on the fence of our porch, stretching up to grab the handing hummingbird feeder. He put the feeder in his mouth, bit it, and drank the conyents. Then he climbed down, picked up the bird bath, drank the contents, and left.
During one summer my wife, myself and our two yorkshire terriers were sitting down on a log after a walk in the bush. Suddenly a black bear emerged from a pathway that followed the creek and walked toward us. Our Yorkie, Susie, ran straight for the bear, barking at it. I jumped up and shouted "Stop" at the top of my voice and ran a couple of steps towards the bear. Then I stopped. The bear and the dog got a fright when I shouted and stopped dead. The bear stood up on his back feet, look at me, then turned around and ran away. We quickly left the scene, and a few minutes later saw the bear walking over the stream about 30 feet down, on his way back home.
One snowy misty evening we spotted a black bear walking up and down the road between the townhouses. We watched him for a while, then noticed a truck stop, and a pizza delivery guy got out. He was looking for a number so he could deliver his pizza. He had the pizza box in his hand, and walked up and down the parking lot, and sometimes walked up the outside stairs. Twice he bumped into the bear without even noticing it. We shouted "look out for the bear". He just said "oh yeah" and carried on looking for his number. He left without even knowing about his close encounter.
The most unusual experience we had was at a beautiful lake near Banff in the Canadian Rockies. We were playing with our two Yorkies at the waters edge for quite a while, when my wife whispered "Look behind you." There was a mother bear with her cub watching us play. We picked up our two dogs and slowly walked away. We looked back a minute later to see where the bear was and saw her and her cub playing in the water in the same spot where we had just been. The mother bear must have seen us playing and waited for her turn.
A few years ago we were driving on the Icefields Parkway on our way to Jasper (also in the Canadian Rockies) when we spotted a large grizzly bear. We stopped alongside the other tourists to have a look and take some pictures. The bear was about ten feet from the road tearing up roots and overturning rocks. One of the onlookers picked up a large rock and threw it at the grizzly so that he could get an action shot. Talk about stupid. The grizzly stood up on his back legs and let out a loud roar. He looked like he was going to charge and everybody ran for their cars. Fortunately the bear turned around and walked away. This was one of the most dangerous things a person could do. Fortunately no one was hurt, but it could have been a disaster.
My son Tim owns a tour guide business, called Sudden Adventure. One of his favorite hikes is a six day backpacking adventure to Cape Scott National Park at the north end of Vancouver Island. On his last trip he encountered several bears. Most of the trail to Cape Scott is on boardwalks, mainly to protect the delicate old growth forest and also to keep hikers from drowning in mud. While walking from Eric Lake to Nels Bight, Tim and his two companions had an uneasy feeling that they were being followed, but they could see nothing. The feeling wouldn't go away, so they pushed their way into the dense underbrush just off the boardwalk and waited. About a minute later, a big black bear came ambling by, taking no notice of the three scared hikers. He probably knew they were there but couldn't be bothered greeting them.
The other experience Tim had on this hike was when he encountered a sleeping bear right on the pathway, with no way around. I'll let Tim tell the story.
"Just into the trees and undergrowth, right in our pathway, lay a large black bear, fast asleep. Oh dear! What now? After a long wait, we decided to go on. Cautiously we crept up. If we walked past we would be only two feet from the sleeping bear. We waited for a while, then decided to go on. Slowly and quietly Norman and Tyson walked past the bear. Now it was my turn. I put one foot in front of the other and when I was directly in front, the bear opened his one eye, lifted his head and looked at me. Every instinct told me to run. However, I could not move. Every part of my body was frozen. The bear yawned. I shut my eyes, and waited to be eaten. After what seemed forever I opened my eyes. Whew! He was sleeping peacefully. Slowly I moved my jelly foot and leg and shakily the two clumps of jelly moved, and I was past the bear."
While Tim was camping on the beach at Nels Bight he saw several black bears in the distance wandering around. Other hikers, including a group of school children, were alsowere also in the area and the bears took no notice of anyone. The place is so isolated and no one has bothered the bears, with the result that, as far as I am aware, no bear attacks have occured at Cape Scott.
I don't want to leave the impression from these true life encounters that bears are not dangerous. Always treat them as dangerous, as they are unpredictable. Try and make a noise, go in a group, try not to surprise the bear, and never, never run. And above all, enjoy the wilderness. There is room for everybody; just be aware that there may be a bear in the area.
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