Bears (Ursus americanus)

Shortly after we began the descent to the valley floor along the switchback road pictured above, the bear and cub to the left were sighted. Mother bears with cubs are notoriously dangerous so while I was tempted to get closer I was also more than conscious of how fast bears can run. When we first saw them they were already on the move up the slope. Then the mother paused and looked back at us while waiting for the cub to catch up. When he had bounced up the hill past her she moved into cover off to the left. I didn't attempt to follow her. (Reader Carolyn from Haida Gwaii kindly posted a video link of a similar encounter with bears in British Columbia north of here, though the bears in the video are the rather more aggressive Grizzly Bears. Click HERE to see the video.) I suspect the bears I saw were American Black Bears (Ursus americanus), though the distinctions between Black and Brown Bears are quite subtle. The valley in the above photo is the Similkameen Valley near Hedley, British Columbia.