It’s a fresh Spring morning. The sun illuminates the land with its soft golden glow. The beaming rays pierce through lush canopies of brush creating a fantastic fantasy display of light columns. White streaks of light exposing tiny dust particles, pollen, and bugs in the air that make them look like shimmering glitter adding to the layers and layers of romance.
Everything is beginning to awaken. You catch the rays upon your face and feel it recharging you. Eager for a rewarding hike and day ahead, you move with lungs, heart, and mind wide open. As you inhale the clean, crisp mountain air, you feel strong, energized, and prepared for an epic adventure.
With one step in front of the other, you walk in rhythmic motion to the beat of your own pace, breath, and deep appreciation for these wild forests. The distractions and attractions are endless. The changing light, colors, and landscape halt you in your tracks every few steps as you absorb your surroundings. Maybe you use one of these moments as a photo opportunity or absorb it exclusively for your soul. Whatever the reason, you submerge yourself into this awe-inspiring beauty.
Whilst you roam along the trails’ twists and bends lost in thought, appreciation, or conversation; movement in an open meadow merely feet away from you captures your attention. Your heart skips a beat. In an instant everything is thrown off tempo. Your mind attempts to quickly interpret the possible threat. And in that moment, a hefty, fury grizzly, and what humans refer to as ‘apex predator’ locks eyes with you.
With your heart racing, you stand anchored facing one of your greatest fears. Your body is covered in chills and quickly prepares for fight or flight mode. You know you need to move as quickly as possible in the slowest motion possible so as not to alarm or mimic prey, but you are not quite sure your legs will comply. Disbelief has frozen you in the very tracks you were relishing only seconds ago.
Like a dog whose hair stand up on the back of its spine when highly nervous, you can feel the hairs on the back of your neck stiffen. You try to remember all that you learned should you encounter this stare down but never quite imagined you would be caught in this predicament.
All that you have heard and read about these creatures is wrapped up into one explosive emotion – fear. Nevertheless, fear has brought you into acute presence. The here and now, where all bear education has drained from your mind as the blood from your face and you are left resorting to a single, familiar resource, instinct.
You notice a cub peak up from the shrubs. What was a ‘bad’ scenario has just become worse. This most extraordinary experience of being up close and personal with one of the most incredible creatures of this wilderness has your emotions tangled in a fight of their own. The excitement and exhilaration of this rare encounter with these beautiful beasts in their own natural habitat is being suppressed by logic and fear.
You’re meant to sound assertive yet calm. But your heavy panting has dried your throat and mouth so much you can barely speak. You’re not quite sure what volume is ‘safe’ or appropriate so not to sound provoking or even vulnerable.
Allowing space and distance between you and her is your priority. With bear spray now in hand, you find the courage and discipline to move slowly in the opposite direction talking in a deep monotone voice. You observe her every movement as she occasionally peaks her head up from the shrubs to watch yours. Every glance from her shocks you with another wave of chills. However, every step further away from her is also another stride of relief. Maintaining your composure and steady, slow movements against your strong instinct to run requires great control.
But as you watch them ramble on down the slope rummaging through the shrubs and casually feasting on berries, you pause. You pause physically and you pause your perception of these extraordinary creatures long enough to see them. Long enough to understand them. And long enough to respect their basic right to share this space in their own authentic way.
You notice she seems as if she could not care anymore for you than if you were a random leaf on a tree. As the cold chills and sweaty palms subside, you submit to deep admiration. Observing them feeding, rolling, scratching, playing and gradually disappearing into the woods, you are overcome with absolute joy and gratitude. Gratitude to still be standing whole. Gratitude for the uniquely remarkable experience and gratitude for this unexpected profound awareness.
As fearful as one naturally becomes when in the presence of such an incredibly powerful beast, it is not always quite the fair character portrayal built around them. The perception that bears are vicious, human slaughtering savages is quite the contrary.
According to the journals of Lewis and Clark, grizzly bears occupied most of Montana. However, the thriving 50,000 estimated grizzlies in the Lower 48 were brought to fewer than 1,000 by 1975. Westward expansion and European settlement greatly affected these numbers due to hunting, habitat loss, and conflicts with people and their livestock.
The grizzly bear recovery began July 28, 1975, when they were placed on the Endangered Species Act. This act made it “unlawful to kill, capture, harm, harass, import, or export a grizzly bear anywhere in the lower 48 states, or to sell any parts or products of grizzlies interstate or foreign commerce.”
Since then, there has been an extensive history and tug-of-war on de-listing bears. However, due to the continued threats from human population growth and habitat loss, bears retain threatened status under the Endangered Species Act to date.
Proudly, Montana has been at the forefront of grizzly bear management and conservation for decades therefore, obtaining the largest remaining grizzly bear population in the U.S. today with the exception, of Alaska.
Interestingly, when humans find something a threat, they go to all lengths to eradicate it. And as the more advanced creatures of this planet, we create the means to live in a world or at least a place that is safe for us and our families. It is due to this advancement that makes us the superior species and rulers of the animal kingdom.
Otherwise, aside from a bear’s mammoth 400–700-pound body, one swipe from a bear paw with 2’ claws are enough to show us who is boss. And no use hiding because they will sniff you out from a mile away. However, if you think you are fast on your feet, you better hope you can run 35 miles per hour.
Basically, without our armor we would not stand a chance. However, whilst we do not share the same lifestyles, our behaviors and motives are more alike than we realize. As part of the animal kingdom, survival instinct is a basic impulse all animals mutually share. Therefore, the unspoken language of our energies is far greater understood than any other language or sense humans heavily rely on. Animals understand their environment through feeling. One that humans have desensitized from over time essentially leaving themselves vulnerable. It could quite possibly be the sole reason for being so detached from the animal world.
We commonly attempt to understand them through behavioral patterns and whilst that too portrays insight into a species, there are people whose deep love, respect and appreciation for our animal counterparts inspired them to become advocates, activists, and conservationists.
Such as the most quintessential Jane Goodall with nearly 60 years of groundbreaking work to protect chimpanzees from extinction. The legendary Dian Fossey known by her memoir ‘Gorillas in the Mist’ and remembered for her efforts to protect the gorillas in Rwanda before she was killed. Captain Paul Watson, also founder and president of the Sea Shephard Conservation Society who has sought to protect marine wildlife and crippled the illegal whaling operations across the seas. Or the incredible founder of Lion Guardians, Leela Hazzah, admired for successfully protecting lions across the African continent.
Unfortunately, they have each dedicated their lives to protecting these creatures from their ‘own kind’. The kind that can bring any creature to extinction without batting an eye much less feeling remorse. But what these heroes and many like them have in common is an innate respect, understanding and appreciation of these animals. More importantly, they do not see our beasts as threats, but rather as equals.
Ironically, when a bear protects itself or its cubs from possible human threats, we refer to it as an attack. We view their ‘attacks’ as vicious and dangerous. But when humans kill, we understand it as our right. Our right to protect ourselves. Our right to purely hunt for pleasure and entertainment. Our right to proudly showcase our masterful hunting skills with the head of a rare kill. And our right to dig, build and remove their habitat and call it our own. Simply because we can. Or maybe because we perceive anything beyond humans as insignificant. Whatever the reason, they offer an excuse or reason for our behaviors and actions.
You see, when we refer to animals as wild, we carry a perception of menace as if wild somehow pertains to crazy and undisciplined. Yet, it could not be further from the truth. A wild animal is one that is free, untamed, undisturbed, and uninfluenced by humans. It lives authentically and remains true to its nature in its own natural habitat. There are no limits or boundaries placed on them. And due to this lack of human interference, there is balance and natural order.
Humans are not part of a bear’s food source. A bear’s diet consists mainly of vegetation with a side of young, dead, or injured animals. Though they are considered opportunists and classified as carnivores due to their adaptability, they essentially live like omnivores.
In fact, vegetation is so abundant in Glacier, they do not rely on hunting prey. Berries, grasses, roots, and flowering plants are highly satisfying to these fury giants. Interestingly, one of their greatest delicacies is grubs. Found in high elevation under boulders, they can eat up to 200 pounds of grubs per day. High calorie intake is vital for their 5-6-month hibernation period.
Though we still have much to learn, humans have come a long way in understanding and respecting their vast animal family. The past has taught us that feeding bears or luring them in one area with a mound of food to entertain park visitors has its consequences. The infamous ‘Night of the Grizzlies’ which occurred decades ago in Glacier, was that reminder not to take these fury giants lightly or for granted.
Education, being aware of your surroundings, respecting their space, taking precautions such as carrying bear spray, making noise, and reducing speed in low-visibility areas all assist in living harmoniously. Rangers also facilitate immensely in ensuring our outdoor and wildlife experience is safe and memorable within the parks. That is of course we follow their instructions and heed their warnings and closures. And if you are lucky enough to witness a bear, the thrill and excitement is one you will talk about forever.
My husband and I have had more than our fair share of bear encounters in our short three years in Montana. Some of which wandered along the roads within the park, some found roaming in our backyard and others seen in random locations. Each one just as exciting as the other. But the most impressive, most remarkably moving moments have been our encounters with them on the trails.
Of course, they have also been the most chilling. But something incredible ensues when you are face to face with a bear. When you are no longer a tourist with camera in hand, excitedly taking photos from the safety of your car. When you are standing completely raw and vulnerable in front of an apex predator. One which can decide your future.
When you are that close, you see them. You see them not with your eyes but with your inner being. When they run in fear, you see their vulnerability. When they look at you but decide to roll and play in the open meadows or splash in the water like children, you see their innocence, their comfort with you and their delight in life’s bounties.
You also recognize their uncertainty when they stare a little longer at you. But mostly, you recognize yourself in them and you learn one important lesson – minding your own business. Bears will go about their way if you simply go about yours. Respecting their space is important. And it is from this safe space that you may hug them virtually, as I have done so many times.
Overall, our land is abundant in resources and bears are of great biological value to us and our ecosystem. It is a great indication of richness and fertility when our fellow animals are thriving. Yet, whether bears are considered dangerous is merely due to perception. Perception heavily influenced by fear and driven by political agenda.
When we insert ourselves in a bear’s life, the question is not whether ‘they’ are dangerous but how our behaviors, attitudes, and actions endanger them and can be easily brought to extinction.
Our higher intelligence allows us to find alternatives to live as partners in wildlife than dictators of this land. Our deeper understanding of the absolute significance of our animal kingdom and how they maintain natural balance and order is something we are gradually grasping. However, respecting and embracing them as living, breathing creatures with equal rights to roam this incredible planet seems harder to swallow. And it is only due to pre-conceived, practiced beliefs, thoughts, and opinions that tend to be the greatest barriers to how we treat them.
Parks such as Glacier and Yellowstone open doors to a world beyond ours. A world that allows us to explore lands abundant in a wide array of living things, big and small. A world that exposes us to apex predators and grants us opportunities to connect with them. Opportunities that shift our perceptions that ultimately change our behaviors.
By the wise words of Mahatma Gandhi, “The greatness of our nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them; that’s the essence of inhumanity.”