Goldilocks and Her Fear of Bears

As I am getting ready to leave for my trip and have plans for many trail rides in the woods, this topic has come to mind a lot lately.

This is a tale of blackberries. And horseback riding. And bears. Somehow, it will all fit together.

When I was walking My Boy through the little meadow to the arena the other day, I noticed this:

It's a struggling blackberry vine. As an avid blackberry connoisseur, I was excited. However, I will not be picking or eating the berries from this branch. Can you see why?

Luckily, a trek around the farm showed me a few other strands of berries, many still red and waiting to ripen.

Then, there are these. Himalayan blackberries. Invaders of the land. Choking out native flora in it's thorny path. On the farm, they are still finishing their spring blooms. Aren't these blooms delicate? Many of them slightly laced pink.

After the bloom wilts, you can see all of the stamens and pistils (um, that would be technical flower terminology) begin to shrivel and curl up and turn brown, looking like a little nest cradling the beginning of a little hard green berry underneath.

Of course, you can hardly get to the blasted berries once they are ripe because of these:

Have you ever been trail riding and come across one of these deadly arms reaching out to grab you? Hopefully you weren't half-turned in the saddle chatting with the person behind you at the time. If you're like me, you probably had to break a branch off a nearby tree or bush then use it to hold offending sticker aside as you rode by. If you and your horse stand there long enough, one will probably start growing up around your horse's legs.

When I was a child, we often went blackberry picking. There were numerous logged areas of land that were a haven for the new growth of blackberry vines. Off we'd go with plastic bowls or buckets. One time, when I was around 10 years old, I went with my sister, my mom, her friend, and her daughters. We were picking berries and started to hear a strange sound far away. My mom's friend said it was a bear. We kept picking and the sound got louder and closer. It was a strange roaring and grunting sound. I can still hear it in my head to this day. I began to get very nervous. We kept picking and "it" got closer and then someone said "let's go." I don't think I ever ran to a car faster in my life. As we drove out of the logging road I kept seeing huge overturned black burned stumps among the logged brush. To my imaginative 10 year old mind, every one of them was a bear. Who knows if that sound was really a bear (are they really that vocal?) but I am glad we didn't stick around to find out.

When I first started leasing My Boy, he was boarded at a stable that had access to trails near a river full of salmon. With a lot of berries right on the trail. What do bears eat? Hmm....berries and salmon? I tell you this because the first time we rode around the gate at the trail head, there it was. On a tree, posted for all to see.



Well, it didn't look exactly like that one. But it read: "Warning: A Potentially Aggressive Bear has been Seen in this Area." Luckily, the sign was dated several months before we started riding there. But that did not settle my nerves. What aggressive behavior did this bear exhibit to deserve getting it's own sign? Did it attack a dog? Charge a hiker? The friends I rode with laughed it off but to me, it was no joke. I said, um, people, do you know what season it is? Spring? Yes. Do you know what bears are doing? Waking up from hibernation? Yes. Do you know how they feel when they wake up from hibernation? Hungry? Yes! Now do you see why I was worried? I wore a helmet on every ride, and I made sure we talked and chatted up a storm so that bears could hear us tramping down the trails and move far away. Oh- why did I wear my helmet? Aside from it being the smart thing to do on a horse I was still getting to know, I figured if a bear scared my horse and I fell off and the bear attacked me, maybe the helmet would save my head. Goodness, I know that is silly but it made me feel better. I researched bear and horse encounters on the Internet and read what to do and what not to do. Realistically, I know that I will most likely never see a bear during one of our rides. Still, there is a chance. My biggest fear is of my horse reacting negatively to seeing or smelling a bear, spooking and galloping off, leaving me on my bum in the dust with a bear standing ten feet from me.

I was never comfortable riding in those woods. We saw fresh berry-filled poo (skat) all over those trails. We were pretty sure it was from coyote, or a stray dog that ate berries? Hmmm.....

My sister and I made it out on a trail ride for her birthday a couple of weeks ago. Once again, the berries are beginning to ripen everywhere. The country we ride in is just like that logging area where we heard the bear when I was 10 years old. As we started out on the trail the other day, I saw this rather large pile of berry skat.

Now, if anyone is a skat expert out there, please let me know what kind of animal this is from. It was not a huge amount so unless it was from baby bear, I am not sure it belongs to a bear. Probably a raccoon. Or a possum. Right? Please? Since there had been a fresh rain the day before, we were very well aware by the copious amount of prints that Bambi and her whole extended family had been using our horse trails, but could find no other prints other than horse and dog (a lot of people ride with their dogs out there.) But, it definitely raised my bear awareness hackles.

I have had a fascination and fear of bears for many years. I have read books and watched documentaries on grizzlies. I do not know what it is about them that is so intriguing and yet terrifying. I suppose it is their sheer size and ability to be the king of the forest.

So, are my bear fears unfounded? How many of you have encountered bears while horseback riding, or do you know of anyone that has?

Goodness, now I am craving blackberry pie more than ever!