Bears to the Left of Me, Bears to the Right....

You might laugh when I say Deerwood is crawling with bears. I know the truth of it.

Was walking a Deerwood trail in the deciduous compartment yesterday when I heard a sudden crashing to my right.

At first I couldn't spot what or where it was coming from. It was the clumsy sound that only a bear makes in a rush through the forest. Then another crashing added to it - above the forest floor.

Then I saw them, two bears heard my approach from 25 metres away and were barreling down separate tree trunks toward ground. Like a pair of over sized monkeys in bear costumes. I put the whistle in my mouth and got ready to blow, dead still. They must have hit the ground and stopped, waited.

I walked along the trail a few feet and another crashing sound up and to the left as another bear zoomed down a tree trunk. You might say I was surrounded by bears.

Whistle in mouth, sword on back, I walked forward, shuffling my feet over the leaves so they could hear my movement. Because of the dense bush I couldn't see them, but I knew they were close.