Berries. Claws. Honey.

These are iconic objects, maybe even a signature.

Roaming through the Americas, Europe and Asia, bears have always piqued my interest.

I have always been fascinated by their round outlines and calm demeanor from the moments I first saw Winnie the Pooh and Yogi Bear on television.

Their goofy actions left me to see bears in a positive light. I hadn’t considered their teeth, speed and physical fortitude yet.

A fear of bears was not put into me until my family moved to Seattle, where bears were a much larger part of daily life. Our teachers would warn us about bears. Their unpredictable behavior. What to do when encountering different bears. The differences between a grizzly and black bear.

Even then, they didn’t seem as aggressive or scary as I probably should have believed.

I remember hearing about bears more as well. Bears in dumpsters. In the woods behind the school. Bothering someone’s dog. Hiding below someone’s porch.

They seemed just as amusing as scary.

But, by the time we moved south to Texas, I hadn’t yet seen a bear in person. They were alive in whispers, videos and books. They weren’t as real to me as they were to others. At least not yet.

This would change when my family decided to take a trip to Alaska. Here, bears became a more serious issue. There was an air of respect around them. An appreciation for their intelligence, but also a fear of their power. 

People would carry everything from bear spray to revolvers while hiking, all in preparation for one animal.

The bear.

Squinting through binoculars on one of our outings, I was able to, just once, see a grizzly bear on that trip. A hazy blob, hundreds of yards away with a lens assisting me. 

What used to seem like a myth was now a reality. Although it was through a refractive, foggy lens, I had seen one.

But I was to have a full-circle moment in Tennessee during a road trip.

On a misty day, we were traveling through hills, covered with orange trees. The full force of fall had taken over the roads. As we stopped for a rest and got out of the car, I saw three black blobs. Dark outlines against the aggressively orange tree line.

In my drowsy state, it took me a few seconds to realize what I was looking at. A few hundred feet away, I saw three black bears. 

It was hard to believe these animals were ferocious. They carried an air of calmness and curiosity. Two cubs frolicked around their mother, impatient and energetic.

A journey had come to a close. I had finally seen, with my own bare eyes, a bear. 

It’s a moment I still remember, seared into my brain. Every time I see a bear on social media, in a book or in my biology notes, I am reminded of their intrigue.

Follow Yug (@YugTalukdar) and @CHSCampusNews on X.