Wild Wild Life

One great thing about staying down here in New Jersey at my brother-in-law Matt's house is the wildlife. Located right next to a state park, the place is teeming with cool animals. I've seen deer and rabbits fairly regularly, but one animal I haven't seen yet is a bear. Matt and Trish have had bears show up in their yard, but the closest I've gotten to one is to see is a bear's footprint in front of their house a few years back. Until today.

I was out for a long run, hoping to do 13 miles. However, my stomach was bothering me a bit, so I turned around at the 5-mile mark and headed back, content to do 10. I had gotten out of the Shepherd Lake area and was making my way through Ringwood State Park when I noticed a park ranger in a car flagging me down. I went over and he said a bear and its cubs were just up ahead. He said to hop in his car and he would drive me past the spot just in case the momma bear felt threatened and tried to come after me. We drove about 15 feet and he slowed down and I could see the bear, which at first I thought was a cub. Turns out the momma wasn't very big, but it had a few tiny cubs with it, probably 30 or 40 feet from the road. We drove past and he let me out, and sure enough a family on bikes rode right past the spot, with no problems. A park police officer showed up right afterward and fired off his gun to try and scare the bears off. I continued on my way home to complete my run.

I'm guessing I ran right by the bears about a half hour earlier, but luckily the mother bear didn't come after me. I've always tried to be alert in the park, but now I'll be even more watchful. You don't want to mess with Mother Nature. Or a mother bear.