The official count since the beginning of May is 7 bear sightings in Washington State (4 more in Canada) from yours truly. I feel like I need to write this number down somewhere so I don't lose track. This includes one this past Sunday and one tonight. Both of those bears were in our neighborhood and were BIG. It might be the same bear- hard to say. The salmon berries are ripe now, so they are eating well and likely enjoying feeling full. I rode my bike in to work and home this morning and on the way in, came upon wet bear tracks- but no bear in sight. I was singing loudly and had my bear spray canisters at a quick release on my waist. My singing likely sent him to the hills. On the way home, I came upon a wet, stinky pile and realized how close I was- but again no sighting. Tonight I drove home from Safeway and came up around the corner from the big hill and there was the big black ball- trucking it away from the car. Poor guy- hot day, all that fur and a huff and puff in fear.
We had the biologist and his wife over for dinner this weekend and his attitude is so peaceful about bears. He works with them often and sees them frequently. He says they are so fearful of people that people shouldn't worry. He's frustrated at the newspapers and how they "splay" the bear sighting to make it appear as if they are vicious killing machines. Instead, it's the humans that are a danger to the bears. A tiny black bear yearling was on the run in a suburb of Seattle last month and the newspaper sighted a woman saying how worried she was for her kids safety. Has anyone HEARD kids? Show me a quiet kid playing outside, and I'll take you to Bigfoot's Castle.
"To see one is an honor- just use your head," says the biologist. That's how I feel too and it's an overwhelmingly amazing experience to see all of these wild bears. Now the biologist and his wife have joined in the "bear whisperer", nickname. Vil tells me I should have gone into something dealing with bear studies. I laughed and said it's never too late :).
The one on Sunday was a really odd sighting. I was driving down the road, not far from the house and I "felt"- yes "felt" like I was about to see a bear. I looked to the left and thought I may have seen something, so I put the car in reverse. There on a small trail, hidden.. unless looking... was a large black bear. That experience almost caused me to think that maybe there really is something scientifically weird about my bear-wiring. Here's a terrible photo from my horrible little camera phone, but at least I was able to snap something. Usually I miss them as the phone is hard to use and takes forever.
Today is a great day. Healthy bears mean healthy ecosystems and healthy ecosystems, mean healthy people.
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