I am currently reading this book about the five large carnivores of Scandinavia and I am absolutely humbled, both by finding out how little I knew about them, what prejudice I had against them and how people that live in close proximity to them can both love, respect and be angry with them at the same time. I am reading the original release in Swedish.
- What have you encountered in the wild?
- When, where, how?
- What were your initial thoughts, feelings and reactions (physical, psychological, etc.)?
- What do think of them in general? <— this last question applies to everybody, regardless of whether you have seen or met one of these large carnivores or not.
Personally, without having met any one of them, I am humbled, scared, amazed and intrigued by them. I feel for those whose - for instance - livestock are threatened by them, especially if it directly damages business. I also strongly believe that the matter should not be dumbed down to the dichotmy of “ignore those that suffer from them” or “eradicate them”. We are far too intelligent and developed a race to degrade ourselves so.
Thanks for telling your story and including your thoughts and feelings too! :D I too have gotten lost when I was living in Japan. Exact same situation timewise. I started my hike too late and didn’t realize how much quicker it gets dark in the forested mountains. And the Japanese wilderness is grotesquely eerie: really thick bushes, trees so tightly standing you can’t walk in between them, which makes you feel trapped. Fortunately, I didn’t encounter any beasts, but my heart was beating very fast, because I had heard stories about the Japanese bears tsukinowaguma attacking people.