That day, my partner, dog, and I had been walking on some old ski trails (it was late Spring and no snow). We were actually not even on the right trail. At any rate, we suddenly heard a loud crash in the woods and the next thing I saw were two small cubs climbing a large tree. There is nothing more disconcerting than hearing loud sounds coming out of the woods lol. I told my partner we had better get out of there before Mom showed up, but it was too late. Mom suddenly appeared by the tree nudging her cubs up. They were about 50 - 75 feet from us. Thankfully Mom was more interested in protecting her cubs than attacking us. Even our dog Sable was very nervous and started barking in her nervous way. She had encountered a bear at a campsite with my partner when he did a solo canoe trip and camped in the BWCA in 2013, and she was afraid of it then too (that one had been a male). Sable actually ran away from the chaos, and I followed at a quick pace (but not running), while my idiot partner got his camera out and starting videotaping/photographing them. I yelled for him to leave them alone numerous times. Shortly thereafter I realized the trail dead ended and I had to go back by the bears and tell my partner to go the other way. The whole ordeal only lasted two minutes, and the bears stayed way up the tree. Bears are generally more docile than say moose. We have been chased by a moose and fake charged and that was much scarier. You really have to be prepared up here in the woods with all the wild animals out there. We don't carry weapons, but we try to keep a distance and healthy respect for these animals. It is rare for attacks to happen, but they do. Unfortunately, most of the attacks happen when wild animals are either starving or have been used to being given handouts by humans. Or too many people leave trash and food behind at campsites. The bear in my partners campsite tore off the latrine in the woods and got at some peanut butter someone left there. He was not interested in harming the dog or Greg.That must be kind of scary as mama bears overprotect their cubs. What does one do when they encounter a family of
bears ?
bwcw trip photos august 13 video 169 by Naturebound2011, on Flickr
bwcw trip photos august 13 video 168 by Naturebound2011, on Flickr[/URL]
