Description
“WEIGHT OF THE WORLD”- Limited Edition 250 – Coastal Brown Bear, Lake Clark, Alaska.
Crimp Ear again here. I love this shot. There’s something about it that truly displays the strength and power of these giants, yet also shows a different side. Maybe it was more being in her presence, but I see it.
I read some last night while doing a little research on the thinking and intelligence of bears. The author, who has thousands of hours with bears, including 18 years of guiding, wrote “Here is what I have learned about bears so far: they are beautiful, sentient beings who are extremely large in personality, polite, and even empathetic. They also have a keen sense of community, and are not as solo and independent as people have suggested they are. They are peaceful, thoughtful, emotionally intelligent animals who truly love their kids. They are trustworthy, and that is especially true of a mother and her cubs. They have a jolly sense of humour, curiosity and compassion. They are born into a comfort with the human animal and no one knows why. If they become fearful of people, it is often because of the history they have had with people. Fear can promote aggression under the right conditions, therefore the safest forests are the forests where bears do not fear people. Fear promotes an unpredictability in both humans and bears. Our fear of them is their biggest problem.”
Her name was Crimp Ear, and there is an interesting story behind her. The year before, she lost her Spring cub to a violent attack by a male bear. Shortly after that incident, another sow, Agora, kicked her Spring cub out to live on her own, which was very uncommon for bears to do. Crimp Ear took that cub in and now cares for it as her own. This summer the cub was a yearling and doing well with her.
