YOU ARE IN BEAR COUNTRY

They’ve

been here

for thousands of years.

You’re

the visitor:

Avoid

encounters. Think ahead.

Keep clear

of berry patches

garbage dumps, carcasses.

On woods walks bring

noisemakers, bells.

Clap hands along the trail

or sing

but in dense bush

or by running water

bear may not hear your clatter.

Whatever else

don’t whistle. Whistling

is thought by some to imitate

the sounds bears make when they mate.

You need to know

there are two kinds:

ursus arctus horribilis

or grizzly

and ursus americanus

the smaller black

said to be

somewhat less likely to attack.

Alas, a small horribilis

is difficult to distinguish

from a large americanus.

Although

there is no guaranteed life-saving way

to deal with an aggressive bear

some ploys

have probed more

successful than others.

Running’s a poor choice.

Bear can outrun a racehorse.

Once you’re face to face

speak softly. Take

off your pack

and set it down

to distract the grizzly,

Meanwhile back

slowly toward a large

sparsely branched tree

but remember

black bears are agile climbers

in which case

a tree may not offer escape.

As a last resort you can

play dead. Drop

to the ground face down.

In this case

wearing your pack

may shield your body from attack.

Courage. Lie still. Sometimes

you bear may veer away.

If not

bears have been known

to inflict only minor injuries

upon the prone.

Is death

by bear to be preferred

to death by bomb? Under

these extenuating circumstances

your mind may make absurd

leaps. The answer’s yes.

Come on in, Cherish

your wilderness.