Book Review: Bears Without Fear
Kevin Van Tighem, the author of Bears Without Fear shares the same first bear encounter as I had growing up. Seeing a bear for the first time at a local dump, safe in the comfort and with the protection of the car. Since then, I've seen bears numerous times on my parents property, then later in life while camping and canoeing.
While I have always been intrigued by bears (at a safe distance) I've never shared the common fear of everyone I chat with... "Aren't you afraid of bears?" is usually the first question I'm asked when I tell someone I go camping. While we only have a handful of nuisance black bears in Ontario that nose around campsites for food, I have never envisioned them to be the threat to my well-being as I imagine a run-in with a Grizzly to be. Adorning the cover of Bears Without Fear is a bear that might keep you sleepless, huddled in you sleeping bag all night but maybe you should be reading this book instead.
I particularly enjoyed this quote from the book. While it pertains to the Black Bear, it feels like how we are still so unaware of the bears' lifestyle...
We fear what we don't know, and while this book isn't a full account of the daily life of a bear, it does a fantastic job of letting us get to know them. For the reader that enjoys facts, there is a section that breaks down each of the bears and gives their statistics and diets. For all other readers, you will find that this fascinating book will tell you how the bear has woven itself into our vocabulary, literature and everything from mythology to present day modern culture. One of the aspects I enjoyed most about this book, is how much Canadian content is present. The story of how the bear is depicted in First Nations' history was a nice addition as well.
Each chapter was quite detailed and filled with historic accounts, fascinating tidbits and research on the bears. Here's just a handful of some of the interesting things I learned...
- Lightning storms being beneficial to bear habitats
- Smokey the Bear might not agree with his own slogan
- How what we see in bear scat is due to their digestive systems (which in turn serves another purpose)
- Why we use capsicum spray instead of mace (thank you brave researchers!)
- How technology has improved over the years to track bears and tell them apart
- Maybe most importantly to Traversing readers... Why we should drop the fear of bears nibbling on us while we sleep in our tents.
I found the issues with bears in other provinces to be just as interesting and the book helped explain why I see so many headlines in Canadian news about bears and human troubles in just about every province. The book also expands on opportunities for peaceful co-existance.
I highly recommend this book! Even if Bears aren't your favourite animal I'm sure you will enjoy the read (especially the Canadian content). I'm sure if will even help you sleep at night, giving you some insight into the mind of a bear.
You can purchase Bears Without Fear from Indigo and Amazon.ca, or digitally through Apple's iBooks, Kobo and Google Play.