I rarely find a book that completely captivates and consumes me to the point of distraction; sacrificing sleep to read just one more chapter. It is even more rare in books about the wilderness. I recently found such a book in Mark of the Grizzly by Scott McMillion. This is a truly terrifying and thrilling look at one of the most magnificent creatures on earth.

I never even saw the cub but I heard its long, drawn-out bawl. It sounded like a newborn calf. I knew immediately what it was and I didn’t like it a bit. It was too close. I froze. Then the mother grizzly spelled things out. She jumped out of the brush about seventy yards away, leaping towards me twice, moving maybe fifteen yards closer . . . I remember the way her little round ears stood out from her big skull. I don’t remember taking four or five backwards steps . . . The bear stopped after the two big lunges, resting her weight on her front legs, ready to leap again.

Despite the edge-of-your-seat descriptions, McMillion’s book is not When Animals Attack: Part 12. Although the narrative is at times disturbingly graphic, the information presented goes a long ways toward explaining the nature and behavior of the great bears, current issues facing our wildlife and national park system and the threat grizzlies and our ecology face.

Part of my absolute fascination with this book stems from my familiarity with specific campgrounds and hiking trails in Canada, Montana and Wyoming the book mentions. I am almost certain that during the time I hiked and backpacked through Canada and northern Montana, I have come close to a, grizzly but was unaware of it’s presence.

I’ve had my close encounter with a bear, not with a grizzly, but a black bear. Having been raised in the southeast, I had been taught that black bears are relatively small (compared to grizzlies) and generally innocuous. True enough, generally speaking. But on a backpacking trip just outside of Yosemite National Park, a place plagued with bear vs. human, I learned they are still wild animals with potential to cause serious injury.

After a late afternoon encounter with a cub, probably no more than a year old, my campground neighbors and I spent the next couple of hours discussing our mutual excitement; then we turned in for the night.

Around midnight, an unusual sound of scratching and deep breathing woke me. At first I thought it was my dog asleep in the tent with me, but the sound was coming from outside. Grabbing my flashlight, I peered out the tent door and there next to the driver’s side door of my truck was the familiar, black rounded shape of a bear.

So I did exactly what I had been taught to do. I stood up as tall as I could, grabbed a pan and started banging on it, shouting and yelling at the bear. Unfortunately, I unconsciously started walking towards the bear. When I was about 10 feet away, the bear turned and I quickly realized I had only seen part of the bear.

He (or she) had been standing up on its hind legs looking through the truck window. I now found myself nose-to-snout with a fully-grown adult bear weighing well over 200 pounds.

I looked at him, he looked at me, and I’m still not sure which of us was more alarmed by the situation. Thankfully, the two campers next to me came up and started yelling and shouting as well. The bear simply lowered himself to all fours and strolled away.

I thought it important to mention this story because of our own black bear population in Colorado. With an estimated 8,000 to 12,000 bears here, the increasing human population and decreasing bear habitat could lead to more encounters.

Although it is rare, black bears have attacked humans. In July 1971, a couple was attacked by a large, male black bear while sleeping in their tent near what is now Rocky Mountain National Park. While the woman survived the attack, the man did not.

Black bears will soon become active again along the front range. Here are a few

recommendations from the Colorado Division of Wildlife should you encounter one:

• Stay Calm. If you see a bear and it hasn’t seen you, calmly leave the area. As you move away, talk aloud to let the bear discover your presence.
• Stop. Back away slowly while facing the bear. Avoid direct eye contact, as bears may perceive this as a threat.
• If on a trail, step off the trail on the downhill side and slowly leave the area. Don’t run or make any sudden movements.
• Speak Softly. This may reassure the bear that no harm is meant to it. Try not to show fear.
• Coming between a female and her cubs can be dangerous. If a cub is nearby, try to move away from it. Be alert - other cubs may be in the area
• Remember Bears use all their senses to try to identify what you are. Their eyesight is good and their sense of smell is acute. If a bear stands upright or moves closer, it may be trying to detect smells in the air. This isn’t a sign of aggression. Once it identifies you, it may leave the area or try to intimidate you by charging to within a few feet before it withdraws.
• Fight Back if a bear attacks you. Black bears have been driven away when people have fought back with rocks, sticks, binoculars and even their bare hands.