Some of the best dads I have known have NOT been bears. Bruins tend to be very paws-off, playing no role in the raising of cubs. Certainly some human dads fall into this category, but none in my world, thankfully: the dads I know are very present. Still, it isn’t right for us to judge other species by human standards, no matter how much they may resemble us (the ears! standing up on their hind legs!) or appear “cute.” We have to assume that in the world of bears, low-involvement dads make sense even if we don’t understand it. It seems common that we paint the mother bear as the great protector—that is borne out by many actions including 400 pound mothers somehow not rolling over and squashing their one-pound newborns, mothers standing up to much larger bears in defense of their cubs, and mothers sometimes taking in cubs they did not birth. I contend that the great mother protectress image was sullied by its use in political speech some years ago, but such is what humans sometimes do. Bears, I think, of either gender, are largely apolitical (if you can separate dominance from politics and vice versa.) So here, with a significant nod to bear dads, I salute the moms, especially this one with the far away look in her eye. Just out of the frame are her three cubs, and she appears to be thinking: “Maybe I should have gone to college” (there I go anthropomorphizing! And look at those paws!)
Beyond the river
is always a better world
So we think in this.
Can you easily tell, just by their appearance, male from female? (It does seem counterproductive to the continuation of the species for male bears to attack their own cubs, which can lead us to think of the females as the better parent.)
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