I don’t often see them, but I did catch sight of bears yesterday.
The last time I had seen a bear was one evening last summer. I was driving along Route 8 not far out of Liverpool, when a bear crossed the road. Just one. I’m not sure what it was up to, but I swear it looked like it was dancing as it got to the other side. It seemed rather happy anyway.
Yesterday afternoon, again on Route 8 not far from Liverpool, I saw another bear. I was a ways back. A couple other cars were much closer than I was. But I could clearly see a large black dog come up out of the ditch of the side of the road. Only it wasn’t a dog. It was a bear. It wasn’t a really chunky looking bear. It almost looked a bit thin. But it came up and jogged across the road and seemed in pretty good shape.
Then the surprise. After the bear had crossed the road, a second, much smaller black animal appeared and followed. Then there was another small black animal. The family managed to successfully cross the road, although I’m sure there were a couple drivers who’s hearts were beating a bit faster after having bears run out in front of them.
Thankfully, there were just the mother and two babies. No papa bear. And no little blonde girl chasing them, trying to steal their porridge. Although the bears could have used some porridge. We’re not in full on berry season yet, but it is looking like a good one for this year.
Which reminds of my closest encounter with a bear. It was many years ago. I got to within about ten feet of a bear.
I working in the woods. We were on our way out for the day. It was a hot late summer day. I was trudging along a power line, hot and tired, concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other. Not really paying attention to what might be ahead of me. The bear was face down in a patch of blueberries. He wasn’t paying much attention either. As I got to about even with him on the power line, I looked up. The bear looked up. I then did what you’re not supposed to do when you meet a bear. I ran. So did the bear. In the other direction.
The guy who was walking behind me said it was one of the funniest things he had ever seen. The bear and I looked up at about the same time, and, according to him, we both had about the same look on our face. Surprise and horror. Then we both started moving in opposite directions at the same time.
The bear was faster, so I’m glad we weren’t heading in the same direction. And I will not say he was more scared of me than I was of him. I think we were both plenty scared of each other. The bear did have one advantage. He didn’t have to stop and change his shorts afterwards.
I like bears. You don’t see them very often and I’d rather not see them on the highway. But still, it’s nice to know they’re out there. And the two little ones I saw yesterday looked adorable.
Hopefully they find plenty of berries this year. And stay away from the roads.
