Watch Mama Bear Bring Her Cubs Across a Ski Trail at Sunday River

Can you imagine skiing and seeing this?

Sadly, my only encounter with a black bear in Maine, or anywhere, was not a good one like this. But more on that later. We all know bears hibernate in the winter. They do this because the weather is cold and it's hard to find food. Male bears go to their winter homes around mid-December and they don't start poking their heads around until mid-March. While the guy is sleeping away the worst part of winter, the female bears are giving birth and hanging with the cubs for a good two years. They don't emerge from their hibernation until mid-April. How spot on. This remarkable video was taken by Cliff Berner and posted on April 12. Kids are kids are kids. It apparently doesn't matter if they are bear kids or human kids, there's always that one that won't listen. Watch as mama bear gets her three adorable cubs across the Right Stuff trail at Sunday River.

I could watch this video all day. I love bears. I love all the wildlife Maine has to offer, but how amazing that this mama bear had her kids across a ski trail that Cliff just happened to be on.

My only close encounter with a black bear was on a connecting road heading to camp near Lincoln, Maine. It was not a backroad or a road deep into land that wasn't developed. I was traveling around 50mph at a safe distance from the car in front of me. That car slammed on its breaks and was swerving into the oncoming lane - thank God there were no oncoming cars.

As he swerved, what looked to be a teenage black bear was running across the road and he struck the bear's rear area and threw the bear off the opposite side of the road. He pulled his car over and so did I. We couldn't see a bear. My heart was pounding and so was his. Damage to his car was minimal if any and there was no bear in sight. I was heartbroken that we may have killed or mortally injured the bear when he looked me right in the eye and said,

Oh, he's fine.

Apparently, bears are pretty hardy and can take a hit like that and be okay. I'd rather watch this video over and over again than run that day's events over in my head. Have you ever seen a bear?