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The Bears of the Kennicott Valley |
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By Jim Wilder (the “bear guy”) |
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The young black bear sat in the alders, licking his sore shoulder, disconsolate and confused. A cloud of mosquitoes droned around his big ears. Far off in the twilight, he could hear the rush of a glacial river and the low drone of a plane taking off. This last was a novel sound to him, and dimly piqued his curiosity. He was in unfamiliar territory and very hungry. His last few weeks had been very traumatic and his world had been totally turned upside down. His mother had recently begun acting very strangely towards him, displaying unprovoked aggression and finally driving him off in no uncertain terms when a large adult male had begun doggedly following her. This last development had definitely hastened his departure; to stick around longer would have been to invite serious injury or even death. He had wandered aimlessly, far from the familiar territory of his mother’s range into the great unknown of independence, occasionally feeding in lush meadows as he went, but more often running from other more dominant bears that he met or sensed in the woods around him. Now, as he vaguely followed the curious sound of the airplane, the young bear was drawn toward a wide glacial valley. As the valley drew nearer, he picked up a quick tantalizing smell of something very enticing, something that made his stomach churn in anticipation… |
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The young bear circled furtively around the clearing in the forest, his sore shoulder completely forgotten. Through the trees, he could see a log cabin and some other outbuildings. He was extremely nervous and wary in the face of these new stimuli, but the delicious smells emanating from the recently used barbecue grill and burn barrel were overwhelming his natural caution. Eventually, he furtively slunk from the protective cover of the woods and into the clearing, his every sense alert for danger, his nose filled with the novel heavy scent of humans and dogs. At some deep subconscious level, these scents triggered a deepseated fear and aversion, so his approach was very wary… |
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The outcome of the preceding fictional scenario will be very instrumental in determining this young bear’s response to humans and their developments in the future. A positive outcome for the bear (e.g. it receives garbage, dog food, human food) will encourage it to investigate humans and their developments in the future, for the bear will have learned to associate humans with food (it will have become “foodcondi¬tion¬ed”). This is a dangerous development, as bears who learn to ignore their fear of humans for the potential food rewards that humans often provide are more prone to cause property destruction and human injury. A preferable result might go something like this: |
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…as he got closer to the barbecue grill and burn barrel, the bear grew bolder as hunger dominated wariness. With increasing confidence he |
