Introduction: My inspiration for composing

this piece came from a close encounter

that my only son and his Aussie friend

who was visiting Canada had with a

bear cub and its mother when they

were hiking in the Waterton Lakes

National Park last May (2012). It

could easily have ended up as a

tragedy had the wind been

blowing in the opposite

direction to enable the

sow to detect their

human scent. We

are so glad that

neither one of

them was

attacked.

 Shush! Stay still. It’s a grizzly bear

I warned you about going there 

A female for sure? Where? 

She’s near her lair . . . 

A cub, beware! 

Don’t scare 

BEAR!

A/N The cub actually came within 2 m. of the

6 ft. 4 in. Aussie tourist but was almost as startled as

he was. He had never seen a bear cub and the cub had

obviously never seen a human being.