BEARSKIN TRAIL ENCOUNTER

My wife has been doing a lot of birding along the "Bearskin Trail" this summer. This trail starts in Minocqua and runs 17 miles south along the old railroad right-of-way established in the late 19th century.

Recently she was photographing butterflies on a section of the trail near Harshaw when she heard a noise behind her. She turned and saw a very large bear about 20 yards away that had just emerged from the brush. Both of them froze. The bear looked at her and she looked at the bear. Not knowing what else to do ..... she took a picture. The camera settings were for closeups of butterfiles but the shot turned out fairly well. She then slowly backed up. The bear turned and headed north up the trail for about 10 yards and then stopped turned around and looked at her again. My wife and the bear went through this routine two more times and then the bear disappeared back into the trailside brush. Mary decided she had enough photography for the day.

This was the sixth bear she has seen this summer while out attempting to photograph wildlife of a much smaller nature. This was definitely the largest of the six bears she's seen.