Close Encounters of the Bear Kind

I like blackberries. Bears like blackberries.

Yesterday I was walking along the Deerwood road and peeked in to see if my favourite blackberry bush had any new stuff for me to chew on.

As I reach into the dense bush, a black, furry blur hops off into the woods. Didn't move like a fisher or a cat. No tail.

It was one of the bear cubs.

BEAR CUB!!!!!!!!

Suddenly I was on RED ALERT because momma had to be nearby. Black bear attacks, of course, will most likely occur when a momma bear believes one of her cubs is threatened.

With hand on sword grip I hastily moved on, singing "I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy" in a loud, but not a threatening way.

And then the bear cub starts loping back to the blackberry bush - towards me.

I walked (hastily) down the road (hastily) not seeing momma bear (hastily) anywhere in sight and got away. But where was momma bear then? At such a young age, I doubt bear cubs are often separated from their mother. As it is bear season, I wonder if momma bear is now in the form of sausages. If so, it doesn't look good for the three cubs minus momma.