{"id":740,"date":"2015-05-09T10:05:04","date_gmt":"2015-05-09T18:05:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/?p=740"},"modified":"2015-05-19T10:05:19","modified_gmt":"2015-05-19T18:05:19","slug":"beary-scary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/travel\/beary-scary\/","title":{"rendered":"Beary Scary"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
103 wrangles her cubs.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I\u00a0like to hike alone. I\u00a0relish the serenity and grandeur of the forest, meandering and dawdling, following hiking\u00a0trails or\u00a0exploring wildlife paths. \u00a0I traipse through the spruce and hemlock<\/span>-laden forest of the Tongass National Forest<\/a>\u00a0not thinking much about bears<\/span>. Juneau<\/a> is surrounded by prime black bear habitat and bear sightings are common even downtown. The borough of Juneau has about 3 black bears per square mile. *<\/span><\/p>\n

Trained by the National Forest Service <\/a>to read and\u00a0respond to\u00a0bear behavior, and having experienced\u00a0bear encounters where the bears\u00a0flee, I don\u2019t think much about encountering bears. In fact, I\u00a0am often lazy about carrying spray.<\/p>\n

I was enjoying a recent\u00a0hike over the Moraine Ecology\u00a0Trail in\u00a0the\u00a0<\/span>Mendenhall Recreation Area<\/a>\u00a0when I came to a\u00a0shrub-obscured fork in the trail. As I am about to turn left, a\u00a0rush of disturbed\u00a0vegetation and a flash of brown\u00a0movement\u00a0snags my attention. \u00a0Whatever it is, it\u2019s fleeing quickly. A bear? A dog? A deer?\u00a0 Seems too small for a bear. I\u00a0stop to give the mysterious creature a chance to retreat. The air still, the phantom gone,\u00a0I move into the intersection and\u00a0turn left.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Bear<\/a>
Mom and cubs follow me down the trail.<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

OH SHIT! Frozen in place, 15 feet away is a<\/span> black bear<\/a> sow starring me down, standing her ground, her three cubs scampering for safety. The 150-200 pound protective momma is looking me straight in the eye, warning me not to come any closer. She steps toward me, not overly aggressive by bear standards, but enough to trigger\u00a0my flight or fight response. She is so close I read her yellow ear tag, “103”. My heart rate\u00a0rocketing,\u00a0my neck hairs tingling, I chant \u201cHey bear, I\u2019m here, you’re there, I\u2019m leaving, it’s OK,\u201d while slowly raising my arms and stepping backwards. After what seems longer than it really is, the agitated sow turns away and lumbers down the trail to wrangle her three yearling cubs. My life no longer in danger, I regain my composure and think “how cool” then\u00a0turn right on the trail, away from the bears. After a few yards, I glance back.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOh Shit\u201d,\u00a0Momma,\u00a0with her\u00a0triplets in tow, is\u00a0heading toward me. Again, I step back off the trail, way back, while they \u00a0swagger by.\u00a0\u00a0The cubs curiously check\u00a0me out, but Mom never glances my way. I cautiously\u00a0watch the\u00a0furry family\u00a0amble down the\u00a0trail\u00a0then duck into the trees. Once again regaining my composure, I think, \u201chow cool,\u201d and head in the opposite direction the bears are seemingly headed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Nicky<\/a>
Larry, Curly and Moe<\/strong><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

YIKES! Tumbling out of the tree cover\u00a030 yards ahead of me are the three cubs. But, where is mom? Beside me, next to me?\u00a0My neck hairs\u00a0tingling , I can\u2019t resist snagging a few photos of the cubs rough housing on the trail, like Larry, Curly and Moe.\u00a0 Spotting me, one cub stands up to get a better look before they\u00a0dart into the tree cover. Again I think, \u201chow cool,\u201d and head down the trail while listening and looking for the sow. No sign of her or the cubs.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0When I arrive at\u00a0Steep Creek, I find the black bear family grazing contentedly\u00a0on meadow grass. This time, however all is cool for I am standing on a bear<\/span> viewing platform<\/a>, 6 feet above the bears.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Mom<\/a>
Mom and cubs grazing in the meadow<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I\u00a0few days\u00a0after my bear encounter,\u00a0the Forest Service closes\u00a0the nearby East Glacier Trail after several hikers and mountain bikers report\u00a0a sow,\u00a0with three cubs,\u00a0making threatening gestures, including clacking her jaws.\u00a0 It was 103.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to an article in the May 13 edition of the<\/span> Juneau Empire<\/em><\/a>, John Neary, director of the Mendenhall Glacier Visitors Center, stated he was\u00a0hopeful residents\u00a0would \u00a0obey the closure and give the bears the space they need. “‘Otherwise,'” Neary said, “‘the bear is going to get shot.”<\/span><\/p>\n

UPDATE<\/strong>: as of May 19, the East Glacier Trail is still closed and there have been no negative encounters with 103.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lesson learned: Carry\u00a0bear spray.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Dancing<\/a>
Exit, stage right!<\/strong><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Text\u00a0 & Photos by Aleta Walther \u00a9 2015<\/span><\/strong>
\nNaturalist, Outdoor Excursion Guide, CIG, CTA, ATG<\/span><\/strong>
\n<\/span><\/b>CONTACT: <\/span><\/strong>\u00a0aleta@prwriterpro.com<\/span><\/p>\n

* About Bears, The Natural History of Juneau Bears and Their Relationships With People<\/em>, Discovery Foundation, Richard Carstensen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u00a0like to hike alone. I\u00a0relish the serenity and grandeur of the forest, meandering and dawdling, following hiking\u00a0trails or\u00a0exploring wildlife paths. \u00a0I traipse through the spruce and hemlock-laden forest of the Tongass National Forest\u00a0not thinking much about bears. Juneau is surrounded<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":765,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22,91,92,26,104,90,23,21,24],"tags":[5],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/740"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=740"}],"version-history":[{"count":35,"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/740\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":795,"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/740\/revisions\/795"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.prwriterpro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}