Enjoy, but also respect wildlife

This week we bring to you the rather frightening story of a black bear that went after a family in Glacier National Park.

We suspect there's probably more to the story than meets the eye. Yes, there is the possibility that a male black bear would become predatory toward humans. But that's a very rare event in Glacier, indeed. We suspect this bear was probably fed by someone along the way. Probably more than once. Although that may be impossible to prove.

The old adage goes, "A fed bear is a dead bear." And we certainly agree.

But we urge visitors in Glacier to take another tack, which is this: Respect. Give wildlife some respect out there. They need their space.

All of wildlife - from the ground squirrels to the mountain goats to the bears - especially the bears need space. They are not tame. They are wild creatures and you are a visitor in their backyard. So if you see a bear from your car, go ahead, take its picture, but stay in your car.

If you see a bear on a trail, slowly back up and give it plenty of space. The more the better. The photos in this newspaper of bears were all taken with lenses with long focal lengths, usually 400mm, oftentimes more and nearly all of them were taken from a car.

We do that not only for safety, but for respect for the bear as well.