Ine | 
This was a warning which we often saw on our trip in Canada/USA.
Kris told me that there was a possibility that we saw bears during our trip. Especially driving through the Icefields Parkway. We were driving for half an hour, and we saw a few cars who stopped along the road. We were very curious, so we also stopped. Suddenly a black colored animal came out of the bush. It was a black bear.
I was amazed because the bear was only 2 to 3 meters away from us.
At first I was a little bit scared, because it is a big animal and I didn’t know a lot about their habits. But then my curiosity got the upper hand and we started taking pictures and watching it closely.
Black Bear Flower Lunch | Location on map
The first bear we saw, was tagged. I thought it wasn’t a wild animal, only to find out later they tag bears when they are obliged to tranquilize, capture and relocate one because it’s coming to close to campsites, or because it’s feeding on human garbage. But the bear remains wild.
But because we already saw one, there was hope to see some more. A few km further, Kris saw something crossing the street. Apparently mother bear was crossing it with 2 little cubs.
Like I told you before, I didn’t know anything about bears but I was getting quite interested in them. When we stopped at the visitor center of Kootenay National Park, (Canada) to get a stamp for my other obsession (collecting national park stamps), I saw a book about bear attacks “Bear attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance” (Stephen Herrero). I was so intrigued, that I bought the book and started reading it immediately.
This book is required reading for everyone who hikes, camps, or visits bear country - and for anyone who wants to know more about these sometimes fearsome but endlessly fascinating wild creatures.
It’s about different subjects: What causes bear attacks? When should you play dead and when should you fight an attacking bear? What do we know about black and grizzly bears and how can this knowledge be used to avoid bear attacks? And, more generally, what is the bear’s future? The book explains the difference between black bears and grizzly bears.
I think (even better, I know for sure) the book is written to explain to people that it’s not necessary to be afraid of bears, but just to be aware of the fact that they could be wandering around, where you are camping, hiking or…
I think Kris thinks the book has achieved the totally opposite… We were hiking in Yellowstone National Park and in my opinion it was a perfect situation for bears to attack (according to the book).
It was dawn, there was a carcass of a bison, and there were bisons with little ones on the hike (prey for bears). I was really afraid of going any further and I started yelling to scare the bears (as told in the book). I wasn’t mauled by a bear, so I think the yelling worked out pretty fine. (j/k)
So I can image Kris wasn’t happy when we entered bear country, because he knew I was going to be a pain in the ass and yell all the time, be annoyed when he takes pictures (because I don’t want to stand still all the time).
For those who don’t like reading books, or just want to know more about the content of the book, I’ll probably be posting some more stories about bears and some examples of attacks. And since we saw about 11 tot 15 bears (also grizzly bears) I have a lot more to tell.
By the way, I’m very proud to say that this is a picture taken by myself (with Kris his camera).
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