"If we can learn to live with bears,

And if we can learn to accommodate their needs,

In their natural environment,

Then maybe we can also find ways

To use the finite resources of our continent,

And still maintain some of the diversity and natural beauty

That were here when Columbus first arrived.”

Stephen Herrero

National Bear Awareness Week

Begins on Mother’s Day, May 13^th

My Animal Spirit Guide is a Brown Bear

I’ve seen them in the wild and in my dreams

I have always been a huge fan of the Ursus species

They are very clever and often very comical creatures

Doggedly determining how to obtain all types of food

Has always been one of their most interesting features

I’ve come across many a black bear in the vast northwood

And I’ve seen a few grizzlies in Alaska and in Yellowstone

I’ve had bears following after me through the woods in Canada

Enticed by the smell of fresh fish that they wanted for their own

I’ve seen them congregating at town garbage dumps

On the outskirts of many a small town in Wisconsin

I’ve watched many a cub frolicking on a lake shore

Which to me always brings a huge smile and a grin

But as with every other type of wild creature these sad modern days

We infringe on their territories with our never ending urban sprawl

And we are routinely killing off their main food supplies and sources

Resulting in them invading our properties and climbing backyard walls

But similar to many other non human residents of this earth

We must somehow try to learn to live with them in our midst

Bears have important roles to play in our planet’s ecosystems

And killing them off would bring earth more miseries than bliss

If you live anywhere in or near bear country

Take some very simple precautionary measures

To safeguard your family, your pets, and these bears,

Creatures that I believe are truly one of earth’s treasures

"Bears are not companions of men,

But children of God,

And His charity is broad enough for both.

 Bears are made of the same dust as we,

And breathe the same winds,

And drink of the same waters.

A bear's days are warmed by the same sun,

His dwellings are overdomed by the same blue sky,

And his life turns and ebbs with heart-pulsings like ours,

 And it was poured from the very same fountain...”

John Muir