No…and that is quite the story.

When I was 5 years old, my family left the comforts of our home and headed north, very north, to a mining outpost in the Yukon where my father worked during the summer months.

My 3 year old brother and I were the only kids in the compound. To say we were in the middle of nowhere would be true to the definition of nowhere.

I don’t remember much from this time, but I do remember the wilderness, playing outside, and then not being able to play outside. It turns out that grizzly bears also frequented this area. And one time, I grizzly bear came up to the door of our trailer and started batting on it with its front paws (it probably smelled the food inside).

With bears around, our lives changed. Gone was the freedom to play outside on whim. It was replaced with strict rules and constant supervision by my mother.

My mother feared the bears and that fear transferred to me. So much so that when I returned to the east coast of Canada to start Kindergarden, I was afraid to go outside during recess. I thought the bears were going to get me.

Fast forward 30+ years and now I am an officially certified bear guide 🙂

I no longer fear bears. Rather, they are my favorite animals and now I fight to protect them and their habitat.

I never thought I would become a bear guide, but then again, I never thought I would be a wildlife photographer.

Life works in mysterious ways…