Cavorting With a Bear Cub.

A few weeks ago, I was driving down the long, winding laneway that leads into our property.

As per my usual, I took in the tangle of blackberry brambles, the giant fir trees swaying in the sky, the Old Man’s Beard hanging from the branches, the decaying stumps sinking into the earth, and oh yes … the black bear cub running alongside my car.

WAIT. What?? Oh my God!!! There’s a black bear cub running alongside my car?!?!

YUP.

There he was. In all his black furriness, galloping beside me like a big clumsy puppy.

Slowing to an-almost stop, I fumbled with my phone for a moment but decided against recording anything. I was sure the moment would be over by the time I got things set up.

It was an amazing sight! He kept looking up at the car, nodding his head up and down as he ran down the lane beside me.

It seemed like he wanted me to chase him.

Cubs are typically born in January so this baby was around 7 months old and I assume that he and his mama were the same duo that the neighbours had mentioned recently.

This little race went on for about a minute until he veered off into the darkness of the blackberry bushes, back I’m sure (and later confirmed), to the safety of his watchful mother.

I’d never seen or heard of a cub that young straying more than a few feet away from its mother, and I wondered if perhaps there was something wrong with them or their situation.

I was so surprised that she allowed the cub to come out alone, that when I got home, I did a little research on black bears and learned something interesting.

In order to avoid an unrelated male killing her cub and/or herself, a mother bear may choose to raise her cubs in close proximity to humans.

She will find a location that she feels is safe and count on the premise that any predatory males will be deterred by the presence of people.

This explains why she and her cub are hanging around our area. We are less of a threat than some random male bear.

We are the lesser of two evils, so to speak, the smaller risk.

Even though someone could harm her and the cub at any time, she is acting (unconsciously) courageous in the face of multiple threats. And as an extension of her courage, her cub feels safe enough to frolic in our laneway.

As with all my unique wildlife sightings, I found this event quite inspirational and took it as a sign that I should continue with my current, somewhat uncomfortable endeavors.

I’ve been thinking a lot about courage lately and the role it has played in my life and how I still need lots of it to move forward.

You see, courage is about more than being brave in a scary moment.

It is about having fear, being mindful of the risks, and making the decision to do something anyway.

For me, courage is the unicorn of attributes. A magical force, a dynamic characteristic, something that is tricky to pin down and examine.

Some appear to be born with it and for others, it’s hard-won.

It doesn’t necessarily come with age or experience but it can be cultivated over time or … it can be lost forever.

Courage can be fostered through a guiding hand or destroyed by a dark force.

It is an enigmatic attribute, but one thing is for sure;

Courage moves us.

We cannot evolve and ensure our survival if we stay in the same place. We can’t truly grow and experience the limits of our potential without this critical attribute.

The mother bear knows this and so do you and I.

So, as we embrace a growth mindset, celebrate small victories, lean on supportive networks, and reframe failures as learning opportunities - let’s not forget that we are acting with courage and should continue to do so.

Much like the bears, we are assessing the risks and taking action anyway.

We are living and we are trying and we should be proud.

Let us forever make courage part of who we are, so that we may have no regrets at the end of the laneway.

Oh, I almost forgot! We need a Call to Action here.

How about this?

The next time you come across someone in need, do something to EN-courage them. Instill a little magic, so that they too can take action despite the risks.

Thank you for reading. See you next time.

Sincerely,

Laina and the Two Bears