How do you break the 'no bear curse'?
Well I can tell you right now. The answer is.... for those that haven’t already answered it.... it is.... wait for it.... drum roll please... tappy tappy tappy... don’t take your camera out! I discovered this evening that it's that simple to break the 'no bear curse'.
It comes down to two factors really, one being that I didn’t take my camera and the other, that after the heavy rain we had during Saturday night's thunder and lightening storm the grass has been knocked down so visibility is far better.
Things got so quiet that on Sunday my wife and I took a drive out to a provincial park about 2hrs from our home to look for bears and get some photos of them amongst the wild flowers. After spending a good part of the afternoon photographing a Loon and getting eaten alive by mosquitoes I spotted a young bear on the side of the road. The little guy looks to be about a year to 1 1/2 year and by the looks of it, orphaned. His mum was nowhere to be seen. I always make sure momma isn’t around when I approach young bears. That decision is based on a healthy level of common sense. The little guy was cautious as I approached slowly. I was able to get one clean image, see below, before a car came roaring around the corner and scared him away. It was reassuring to see the little fella had a healthy fear so hopefully he does alright out in the wild on his own.
Techs: 400MM @ F5.6 // 1/125 // ISO400 //
Canon 7D with 400mm F5.6L
Image © J M Douglas|Photography 2011
Techs: 400MM @ F5.6 // 1/1250// ISO1250 // Exp comp -1/3
Canon 7D with 400mm F5.6L
Image © J M Douglas|Photography 2011
Back to this evening and the 'no bear curse'. I noticed many wet foot prints on the trails this evening (didn't have the camera so couldn't even take a wet foot print photo - I owe you one before the end of the season) so I knew things had changed since the last time I went out. I spotted a sow and two cubs from a great distance but luckily I did at least take my binoculars so I could see them and they were comfortably eating so I thought I'd go take a look see if I could identify them. Word is over seven bears have been shot this year so I am always anxious to see if our early friends are still about.
I didn't hang around long because once they spotted me she had both cubs up a tree (again no camera).
Tomorrow I will be another year older so wish me luck and I'll be back very soon with more stories and photos from my black bear encounters.
To see what else keeps me busy behind the camera, visit my new portfolio at: http://jamiedouglas.500px.com/#/0
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