Bears

Apparently there's a bear walking around the oceanfront. We were watching the news this morning and of course they were telling people to back away slowly if they encounter the bear. Then it turned into this conversation between Cakes and Silly:

S: But what if I had a gun?
C: Mommy would never let you have a gun.
S: But it's just a dream!
C: Besides, Jesus would be sad if you killed his animals.
S: But that's how you get meat, you have to kill something to get meat.
C: No, people kill animals just for fun.
This is where I jumped in and said some people do kill animals just for fun, but they shouldn't. Real hunters kill for the meat, and they don't kill more than they need.

There are quite a few hunters in my family, so my kids are somewhat familiar with the concept. I was listening to this whole conversation wondering what my little brother would have said.

And whenever I hear anything about bears I think about this:

We saw this sign when we went to Alaska for our tenth anniversary a few years ago. My favorite part is where it says, "If the bear continues to bite you long after you have assumed a defensive posture, it is likely a predatory attack. Fight back vigorously." I always wonder how long that means I ought to wait. I mean, how many times should I let a bear bite me before I assume he's trying to kill me and not just having fun?