I can remember when there were bleachers set up near the garbage dump at Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park where tourists could sit and watch the bears come to the dump to feed. Both black bears and grizzlies could be observed. In those days human encounters with bears, especially black bears were common. People would see bears alongside the road and stop their cars. Some would feed them from their car windows in order to get pictures. Some would even get out of their cars seeking more contact. It didn’t always end well. There were stories of attacks that resulted in injury and death of people. As time passed, park management became more enlightened when it came to the bears. Feeding bears at garbage dumps was stopped. The dumps were cleaned up, temporary bear-proof containers were installed for garbage that were emptied regularly and the garbage was hauled out of the park to a landfill outside of bear territory. Bears that had become accustomed to humans were trapped and transported out of the park. In one of the early experiments, my father’s company had a Piper Super Cub equipped with an antenna that could track the radio collars fitted to the bears that had been trapped. Most simply worked their way back to the park after being released. Time passed and the balance of bears became more natural. The bears returned to their usual food sources and bear sightings in the park became more rare and often more distant.

Although we lived farther from Glacier National Park, there was a similar pattern up there, where there were more grizzly bears and the encounters with people were more frequently fatal for the people. We used to joke about bear encounters. Shops sold t-shirts emblazoned “Welcome to Montana, bears 4 - people 1.” We knew that those shirts were far from accurate. Human and bear encounters often didn’t end well for bears. Bears that injured people or that raided cabins were usually hunted and killed. In those days a hunting license for bear was required for all hunters who went for deer, elk, moose, bighorn sheep, or mountain goats in our state.

There was another old joke that we told when we thought that the person we encountered was unfamiliar with bears. There are many versions. One goes like this. “When you go into the mountains you should always wear a bear bell and carry bear spray. And you should know the difference between a grizzly bear and a black bear. You don’t have to approach them, just look for their scat. Black bears eat nuts, berries and insects. You will see berries and nuts in their scat. Grizzly bear scat contains bear bells and bear spray.”

We were taught to make noise when we were in bear country so that the bears knew we were around. Care had to be taken not to get between a cub and its mother. When a cub was sighted, we backed off slowly, lookin carefully until we found the mother. In general, bears in the wild avoid human contact, so the trick is to avoid surprising one. Their hearing is often better than their eyesight. The adage that we were told, though thankfully I never had to try was that if you encountered a black bear, stand up, yell, appear aggressive and the bear will leave. If you encounter a grizzly, lie down on the ground and play dead, even if the bear sniffs, touches, or even licks you. I’m glad I never had to try out that, I’m not sure I have the discipline. We also knew that bears run uphill much better than downhill, that black bears can climb trees, and other bear lore.

Having seen black bears and grizzly bears in the wild, I’ve long thought it would be fun to travel north to see cinnamon bears, and perhaps even sight a spirit bear or a polar bear. Cinnamon bears and spirit bears are close relatives to black bears and can be seen in the province just north of where we live, though sightings of spirit bears from public roads is considered to be nearly impossible. The people I know who have seen them have seen them from boats traveling along the BC coast. Sightings are very rare.

Polar bears, however, are a different matter. They need access to sea ice to access their preferred food which is a diet of seals. It is possible to see polar bears from the Dempster highway north of Inuvik. The Dempster runs north of the Arctic Circle and is the northernmost highway in Canada. Although the highway is now open all the way to the Arctic Ocean at Tuktoyaktuk, it is unlikely that we would see a polar bear even if we did drive to Tuktoyaktuk because our trip would not be in the winter when the ocean is frozen.

Probably the place where polar bear sightings are most common is much farther south, at Churchill on Hudson Bay. The unique geography of the huge bay brings the sea ice much farther south in the winter and tourists can board tundra buggies to view the bears from a safe perch. The Bay is frozen for almost nine months each winter and during that time the port is closed down, but the airport is open and it is possible to fly in and take a polar bear tour.

I’ve been told that polar bears are curious and will approach humans and vehicles. While they can be a danger, humans being injured by polar bears is very rare. It has been more than 40 years since a human was killed by a polar bear and in that case it is possible that the human actually froze before the bear began to feed. Those seeking to recover the body were unable to approach close enough to be sure. The lore surrounding polar bears is that if you encounter one, do not run. They will chase and they can outrun a person. The trick is to calmly walk away. If the bear approaches close enough for you to touch it, pull back and give it the hardest punch in the nose you can. Polar bear noses are sensitive and they will run away. At least that is the theory.

While I would like to see a polar bear, I am no more eager to test punching one than I am to try playing dead for a grizzly. Some encounters with nature are too close for comfort for me.