I had my first serious encounter with a bear today. I was out in the woods, and coincidentally, I met my dad at the exact same spot, as he drove there with his own car. Then, mere seconds later, I tell my dad I see something, and then I heard footfall in the bushes, and saw a black bear suddenly leap across the bushes, perhaps twenty feet away from us.
The bear was an adult, but, curiously enough, upon landing to the right of us, it seemed to have either lied down or set itself flat against the ground. If a bear does that, it means it wants to wait, and may attack you, so I told my dad and I we should head back for our cars, so we did, even though it meant walking across the area the bear was at, so we did. Good thing I was there, as the bear may have attacked my dad if I was not there.
Definitely my most serious encounter with a bear, seeing as it seemed to have followed us, rather than us humans approaching the bear. I was only armed with a bushcrafting knife, having forgotten my axe, so that was a close call! Although my experience in the forest is limited, it was just enough for me to spot the bear before hearing it walking, which may have saved us from a dangerous situation. I have also emailed the wildlife personnel of my encounter, just in case.
02-Sep-2017 00:10:22
