For a few days every summer, our family has travelled deep into the thick forests of Northern Ontario to visit the bears who live in great numbers there. We have done this for more than 30 years now because it isn’t good enough for us to see bears in zoos or on TV; we insist on seeing them up close and in bearson.
We stay in a nice cottage by a beautiful lake and sometimes, we get lucky and a bear will wander through our encampment in broad daylight, just to reward us for our commitment to their kind.
One year, a bear parked himself right behind the wooden outhouse we use in the absence of running water facilities. On a bright, sunny afternoon. That was cool. We think running water and indoor toilets are overrated.
Another time, we sat in our lawnchairs down by the water with our pop and chips, and were rewarded as we watched a bear a few hundred feet away, maybe going fishing, as we ourselves often do.
Other times, when we go wild blueberry picking, we look over to see a bear doing the same. That is fun.
We think the bears appreciate our interest in them and that might account for the fact that they have resisted the urge to tear us limb from limb.
The only downside to this idyllic picture is the fact that there are not more wild animals to watch in their natural habitat. Yes, we have had foxes join us during a campfire and follow us a few feet behind as we walk away.
But we rejoiced this week to learn that a woman who lives on a back road we take to the cottage each year looked out her window to see a cougar standing in her driveway in broad daylight.
So we are pretty excited about this new development and can’t wait to get back up north to visit the bears, once again, and the cats.
We love cats.
©2021 Jim Hagarty
