Day 284: Bear Necessities

What do you do if you meet a bear?  Today I meet a woman who recently encountered a bear not once, but twice. 

The action takes place in the Canadian wilderness.  She and her husband are hiking, and have considered the whole bear encounter scenario, but not seriously. What are the chances?  Pretty good, it seems.  They stumble across a bear in their path, so back away slowly and carefully.  Bear disappears.  Big relief all round.  Some time later a noise makes them turn round, to find the bear BEHIND them, and ADVANCING.  There are no climbable trees nearby.  So, being religious, they do the only thing they can think of.  Pray.  Magically the bear stops.  Disappears into the undergrowth.  Panic over.

No chatting.  Or praying. 

Inadvertently, they have done exactly the right thing.  Not necessarily the religious content (although whatever floats your boat), but talking out loud, calmly.  The 'talking out loud' tells the bear you're human, and the 'calmly' tells the bear you do not consider them a threat.  So they tend to back off.  The words you use are immaterial.  It's not what you say, but the way you say it.

So now we know. 

I give you this story as it is the single most exciting thing about today.  And who knows?  It might prove useful.  (Please note - this is a technique for black bears.  Not grizzlies.)