Mother and son fend off bear while cycling in national park
When a bear started charging her and her 11-year-son just minutes into their bike trip to Grey Owl’s cabin, Daniela Hamm’s motherly instinct kicked in.
She told her son Davin to raise his arms and yell and scream to terrify the bear, as she did the same thing.
“I’ve had other bear encounters where it walks across the path, looks at us and keeps on going. But this bear took a look at us and within a fraction of second, charged us, so there wasn’t even a chance to do anything,” she said of the encounter in Prince Albert National Park on Friday, July 13.
That’s when Daniela lifted her handlebars up and shoved the front tire towards the bear, with Davin at her back. The two were screaming and yelling but the bear did not relent. It circled back around the two of them.
It was at this moment Daniela realized she may not make it out alive. “Two of us aren’t dying today, only one,” she thought to herself.
The bear pounced and, once again, with all her power, Daniela shoved her bike against it.
She began plotting how she would sacrifice herself so Davin could make a quick escape.
“I’m going to lay you down (and) I’m going to put the fat bikes on top of you,” she said to her son. “Once it’s all done, you’re going to clear out of here.” She began her goodbyes. “I’m going to see Jesus today.”
“Mommy, I’ll meet you there one day,” Davin said.
The bear circled around the back and went in for a third attack. Again, Davin’s mom raised her bike in defence — this time successfully fending off the bear.
Daniela had just experienced the longest five minutes of her life.
The bear retreated back in the direction the two came from, so they continued biking up Grey Owl’s trail for an hour. When the mother and son felt it was safe, they turned around to head back to their parked car.
Along the way, the shaken pair encountered a few families and asked if they had seen any bears, but no one had.
They made it back to their vehicle and went to the park warden to tell her what happened. Because it was a single bear encounter, the warden told her they would put signage up warning other visitors of the attack.
When they drove within five kilometres of their lodging, Davin called his dad, informing him briefly of what happened — when they made it back, Darrell Hamm immediately felt relief.
Though traumatizing, the family continues their adventurous lifestyle. They’re in Whistler this week.
“It was a very scary experience, but I don’t want my kids to think that every time you go in a bush, this is going to happen,” Daniela said.
Resource conservation manager Norman Stolley said the park closed off the trail on Monday, Aug. 20, after learning some visitors encountered a mother bear with three cubs. The park opened it again on Thursday.
Stolley said people should expect to see bears in national parks, especially in Prince Albert National Park, where black bears are common.
He said it’s important that people take precautions when going out into nature, such as carrying bear spray, bear bells and being alert to signs of bears, such as tracks or scat.
“That lets you know there are bears in the area and you should be more cautious,” he said.
Stolley thinks Daniela and Davin did the right thing, but warns that bikes and bears don’t mix.
“Bicycles move very fast and they’re quiet and they startle bears. Then the bear gets defensive, so that could be what partly set this off,” he said.
Bikes can trigger a bear’s “response to chase,” so he advises people get off their bike and move slowly out of the area. “That way the bear doesn’t have that response anymore of chasing something.”