The Other Day...I Met a Bear. Really!

A few days ago, I took Benji for a drive out to Pointe Des Chenes, a pretty beach nearby.  Along the way, maybe a mile before we got to the beach, a bear cub ran across the road in front of my truck.  I tried to get a photo but he was too fast. I was a bit bummed that I didn't get a photo, but kept driving. 

Once at the beach, I let Benji run in the field near the parking gate. I followed him, and when he'd had enough excitement, I put him on his leash and was about to walk to the path that led to the beach, when I realized i was wheezing and had forgotten my Ventolin (asthma medicine) in the truck.  So, Benji and I went back to the truck and i took my puffer. 

Benji in field

 I debated just driving home, because my puffer didn't stop my wheezing. Then I decided to just take it slow.  I carried Benji back through the field, intending on crossing to the path on the other side, which leads to the beach. 

I was carrying Benji in one arm, and had my camera in the other hand.  I don't know what made me turn around, but something did, and I saw a bear running at me!  It was a little bear, maybe the same bear I'd seen on the road a mile back; I wasn't sure.  I wasn't sure what to do, so I took it's photo.  The flash scared it and it stopped and headed the other way, thank God.  The first few photos didn't come out, but I managed to get a few of him heading the other way.

Little Bear!

 He wasn't very big, and I wondered where his Mom was. I wished him Mom had been around because she would have made sure he'd stay away from me. I am not normally afraid of bears and have met bears before, but they've always been nice, polite adult bears, not crazy unsocialized cubs, lol.  I was really worried that he would come right up to me, and I was so worried for Benji.  Ben is almost blind and had no idea there was a problem, so he was fine.

Little Running Bear

 The repeated flashes scared him away and he ran, very quickly, into the bush.  You can see by my truck in the background that he wasn't very big.  I don't think he should have been alone so young. Maybe he's been orphaned or abandoned, or maybe his Mom was out of sight in the bush; I don't know. 

I decided to go back to my truck and drive to another beach, Mark's Bay.  When I got there I honked my horn about 10 times to scare any possible bears away, lol. 

Mark's Bay was lovely; the sun was setting and the moon was out.  Benji really enjoyed walking on the little beach.  Pointe Des Chenes is much bigger, with long beaches that go on and on, but this was safer because I could drive right up to the lake and not have to worry about bears getting between me and the truck, lol.