Bears and Flowers

_LME5234The first of the mountain orchids begin to bloom.

It seems orchids and bears start to appear at the same time in the bush. The trick is not to be too focused on one or the other. For instance, if you are just on the lookout for bears you might step on the delicate Venus’s Lady’s Slipper.

RCE_5388.smA Black Bear says, ‘What are you doing here?’

Conversely, if you are laying on your belly in the moss, intent on focusing your camera on these lovely orchids, you could pop up your head and have a surprise. Awareness is always the best policy.

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15 thoughts on “Bears and Flowers”

    1. underswansea

      No selfie. I encouraged Lisa to go and poke it in the behind with a stick, I thought it would make for a good photo, but she disagreed.

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      1. underswansea

        I enjoy looking for orchids. It was on one of these trips that I started taking photos of the night sky, so the two go together for me. You will have to show me a photo of your wild orchids sometime. Take care.

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    2. underswansea

      To date all of my run ins have been peaceful. However, I am very careful and give them a lot of space. Willow will often bark black bears up a tree, she often knows they are in the vicinity before me. Luckily she doesn’t chase them. There has been more than one bear brought back to hikers by a dog being chased. I watch Willow’s demeanour carefully, especially on some of our nighttime outings. There have been plenty of times I’ve turned back on a trail because of a bear in the vicinity. I also try to let bears know I am around, by talking or singing. Still you can do everything right and things can still go wrong. Grizzlies are territorial so you don’t want to surprise them and have them look at you as a threat. Bears are incredible animals, I always feel lucky when I see them. I find most people are impressed, even if they are seeing one through the car window. I hope all is well with you and Melanie. Take care.

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      1. mountaincoward

        do you mean our ‘legless lizard’ the slow worm? They’re quite small and totally harmless. In fact, the last one I saw played dead so well I thought it was a very straight twig at first!

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    1. underswansea

      Hi Julie, I tend to take the same photos year after year. They are markers for me. No snakes or bears in NZ! No wonder your rugby team looks like they are afraid of nothing! 🙂

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