045 THE BEAR NECESSITIES

Moving out of the “Big Smoke” into a relatively small town and in an area that is still wilderness, one expects to deal with all sorts of wildlife and domestic animals.  For example, late at night we can hear the coyotes howling up a storm in a nearby field, or even in the gully of the small creek beside us.  We have seen people on horseback riding by and early in the morning I often hear a rooster crowing in the distance to welcome the new day.

There are lots of different birds and I have already seen and/or photographed several lifers.  This morning I had a Blue Steller’s Jay following us on our walk and I had only ever seen those up at the lake before.  One morning, Renee and Toby startled a bird in the long grass and I got some good shots of it.  I had no idea what it was until a friend identified it as a “Killdeer”.  What an unusual name for a small bird.

A couple of times while driving, and of course without the camera I have seen coyotes on the road.  Not unusual though as I have seen plenty of coyotes in Vancouver.  I have seen a couple of dogs that look like wolves but turned out to be huskies.  So the selection of animals in Maple Ridge is wide and varied.

We have been told that it is also bear country.  Not a far-fetched belief as my sister routinely gets them in her backyard and we are farther out than she is.  I thought I saw one disappearing into the bush at the side of the road one day, but was going too fast to be sure.  Also on the way to Pitt Lake we saw a car stopped at the side of the road, and the driver stuck a lens out the window that made mine look small.  A glance in the rearview mirror showed a dark shadow on the roadside and it may have been a bear.  Finally, we saw the bear warning sign when we did our hike at Cliff Falls.

Last night though, it all came together.  Renee got antsy, which is not at all unusual and wanted to go for a walk.  I was not feeling too energetic as my body was hurting all over from lugging heavy bags of soil and transplanting my two rose bushes.  It was hot and muggy too and so she went out with Toby.  Within 5 minutes they were back and she said he refused to go and so I dragged my sorry butt out of the recliner and headed out.

By this time the sun was going down and the light was fading, not to mention being tired and sore, so I looked at my camera and even picked it up and then decided that I would not take it for those reasons and we weren’t going very far.

We headed down the road and around the corner and then headed up the pathway behind the complex that we walk every day.  As I rounded the corner by the pond, some movement caught my eye and there standing in the middle of the path, was a black bear.  He was a good size, not big but not small and if I had to guess I say he was a 2-year-old and about 350-400 pounds.  He was quite slender from having just wakened up.

For some reason, Toby and Renee were behind me instead of way out from where they usually are.  I called out “BEAR” and started to back away.  The bear didn’t make any aggressive moves and in fact he sat down like a dog and just stayed there as we continued to back away.  It didn’t take long until we were around a curve in the path and out of sight.

When we got back to the entrance of the path we warned off a few other people who were heading there with their dogs.  We quickly made our way back to the house and I went in and grabbed my camera, heading out the patio door and over to the pond which is just behind us.  Of course as luck would have it, now that I have the camera the bear was long gone.

The security guy was inside the fenced area and saw him as well and when we talked to him, he said after we left the bear turned and walked up the path away from us and disappeared into the bush.  I am sure we will see more of him, but it won’t be during the day with all the people and machines still doing construction.

This is one of the great perks photographically in living outside Vancouver.  It is also one of the things that you have to be very aware of, that we are in wildlife country and it will be part of living here.  One needs to be wildlife and especially “Bear Aware” when walking in the neighbourhood.  I don’t want any conflicts but I still want my bear photos.  Rest assured I will not be taking any unnecessary risks to get the shot though.