Dances with wolves? Columnist runs with Bears

It was a lovely day for a run this past Wednesday. I had missed on Monday and Tuesday, and was enjoying the morning out on the railroad bed trail through the Black River Wildlife Management Area that spans from Ironia in the east to Chester in the west. It was still in the 30’s when I started out, but the sun was bright and there was little or no wind.

I was on my return run, about a mile and a half from the trailhead in Ironia, just off Pleasant Hill Road. It is an area where I have seen bears in the past, but I wasn’t thinking of bears so early in March.

Then up ahead, crossing the trail, was the unmistakable figure of a black bear strolling across the path. In fact, it did not exactly cross the path but remained there long enough for me to focus and identify what I was seeing.

It is always exciting to see an animal on the trail. I have had close encounters with countless deer, of course, but also coyotes, foxes and raccoons.

One memorable meeting with a raccoon occurred when it walked into the trail from the river’s edge. We saw each other at the same time. He stopped and I stopped.

He was not alarmed and I was not alarmed, but neither was inclined to continue toward the other.

“How about you go that way,” I indicated pointing west, “and I’ll go this way,” pointing back up the trail the way I had come. He did and I did.

Now I was seeing a bear, not a raccoon. I had seen a large bear in the same area last fall and had worried that a hunter might have taken it during the bear hunting season in December. That bear had been fairly large and somehow I sensed that this one was not as large.

As the bear moved off the trail heading north toward the Black River side of the trail, I was surprised to see another bear cross in the same spot right behind it. Wow! Two bears for the price of one.

Now, while it was exciting to see bears on the trail, it occurred to me that this was not necessarily a good position for me to be in. Here I was, still running toward the bears - albeit at a rather slow pace - but I was getting closer and I did not know how far they had gone into the woods off the trail and, after all, there were two bears, not one.

Good sense finally kicked in and I stopped running and began to walk. I coughed loudly several times as I approached the spot where they had crossed. I was sure that having heard my coughing they would be long gone into the woods. The bear in the fall had turned and run after a few moments of checking me out and I expected the same from this duo.

Looking to my left, I was not expecting to see either of the bears so I was surprised to see instead that they were both standing up on their hind legs looking at me. This is not aggressive; bears stand on their hind legs to see better. Since I was the object of their attention I called out rather inanely, “Hey bears, I see you too. It’s OK, it’s just me!”

Apparently that was the extent of their curiosity because I was then treated to a true National Geographic moment. The two must have been siblings from the previous year’s crop of cubs, as bears normally do not travel together. These two were enjoying each other’s company and tumbled together on the ground. One went behind a tree and stood up on the other side. Like a child, he appeared to be playing a bear version of hide and seek, before coming around and pouncing on his sibling again.

Mind you, I was not filming for National Geographic and I was alone except for my new ursine friends, whose attention I couldn’t be sure would stay in the family or would return to me. After a few moments, I reluctantly started down the trail and headed for home.

LEPRECHAUNS LEAPING IN MOUNT OLIVE NEXT SUNDAY

Leprechauns will be cavorting next Sunday at the International Trace Center in Mount Olive for the Leprechaun Leap 5K. In addition to the standard five year age divisions, runners judged to be wearing the best St. Patrick’s Day costumes will also win awards.

More information is at www.OYMP.net or by calling 973-448-3589.

Published in the DAILY RECORD of Morris County, New Jersey on Sunday, March 12, 2006

Copyright, Madeline Bost, 2006