Bears are cool.
I've worked a few treeplanting contracts in the
Mezidian Lake area where there are tons of grizzlies. The last time I worked in the area my crew saw two different white grizzlies, or "Pic-ha-kee-lowna" as they are apparently called by the local natives. At first there was some debate among us about whether they were albino grizzlies (or polar bears!), but they're not. They are a rare genetic aberration, and word is that seeing one grants you a wish ("Please don't maul the shit out of me Mrs. Rare Pic-ha-kee-lowna").
Working in cutblocks in interior BC brings you within stone's throw of black bears regularly. Daily and, worse, nightly at times. It's weird and exhilarating. Lots of planters carry bear mace with them. Bear mace! I scoffed at bear mace, but have since heard accounts of people having to use the stuff, and it working.
My aunt was mauled by a Grizzly in the Yukon in the seventies. It ripped off half her thigh. My uncle got lost when we he went for help after beating it off --
har -- and she lay in her own blood for 2 days. She's never been to the Yukon since.
I have several bear stories. Bears!
