Latest edition : 26 September 2016
It is in this lost corner, that the great-grandparents of Richard had come to settle after having left Poitou. “At the time, they were allocated these lands in return for clearing. When I was little, there was still a school in the village. There were not many families, but all had many children. With my seven siblings, nine children from one neighbor and 12 from another, we filled the school! "
But times have changed, the grown-up children are gone. There is no more grocery store, no more school, nothing except a few houses.
And there is him, Richard, the man who whispers not in the ears of horses but those of…. bear. Its beautiful story began not quite 20 years ago. Richard worked as a guide for American hunters. "Not long, I couldn't stand!" »He throws in a cry of heart. Quickly, he thinks of taking people along to allow them to take pictures of the bears rather than killing them.
This is when an abandoned bear cub crosses his path while doing work in the forest. “No bear had adopted this little female who was looking for our company at the time,” recalled Richard and his wife Vivianne. What was their surprise when, three springs later, the little bear returns with two cubs. “It was as if she wanted to present them to us! "
One of his babies was Patch. It has grown huge over the years! After three years, he was much taller than me! It was always impressive when he stood in front of me to sniff me! He was the dominant male among the bears that lived in the area. When he got killed (each hunter can kill one bear per year) another dominant male came along. He was a bear that I didn't know but I spoke to him straight away: okay, you're the boss now, everyone else is gone so we have to make friends!
Incredible, right ?
Richard's secret? “You have to have the right position and observe well. If the bear has erect ears, it means it is friendly. I speak to him softly but firmly, I let him sniff me. But if he flattens his ears, curls up into a ball, it is important not to show him that you are afraid but to yell at him and rush towards him! This is what you should do if a bear crosses your path during a hike. Well
, we prefer to go meet black bears with Richard.
Around 6 p.m., we board an old bus driven by Viviane, which takes us to the observatory built by Richard in the heart of the forest. The bears must be hungry, since they seem to be waiting for the venerable vehicle. While Richard distracts them, we quickly climb to the top of the large watchtower, a prime place to contemplate the surprising spectacle that takes place a few meters below.
Richard hides food in hollow trunks, under branches, hangs in trees to force bears to make an effort to feed.
Apples, peanuts (the old urplus from vending machines in cafes), a little meat. “They don't really need it, but since they know I am feeding them, they are happy to come back. This allows me to organize these outings every day, which are my livelihood in the summer. Each week, they gobble up 1500 kg of apples; during the last 6 weeks before entering hibernation, they gain around 30 kg ”
That evening, five adults come to help themselves at “Richard's table” while seven cubs play crazy in the trees, to the delight of visitors. A fierce growl from below reminds us that these are wild animals and not lint. Viviane isn't sometimes afraid for her husband, especially since Richard often returns in the evening after visiting tourists to still observe his bears. She shrugs her shoulders: "Look at him, small and a little round, he looks a bit like them, doesn't he? Besides, his mother already called him "my bear"! "
Eyes still full of this unusual spectacle, we resume our journey north. “Watch out for the orignacs, that's the time they come out of the woods,” Richard advises us again.
But apart from many signs warning of their possible presence, we don't see any. Pity….
We stop in Miramichi. We arrive at night, impossible to explore the city. But like everywhere else, the welcome at the hotel is warm and, in the room refrigerator, chocolate covered strawberries are a nice touch!
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