Imagine facing this

This is a short face bear. I was writing Strong Heart, a tale of the wilderness, the coast, and an ornery young girl seeking home, when one of these leapt into my story. The bear pictured here is at the Royal Museum in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. I barely reach up to its paws. This animal could reach as high as 15 feet, run 40 miles an hour, weighed two tons, and only ate meat. It was the largest land mammal predator that ever lived. Ever. We humans shared the earth with this animal until 12,000 years ago. Imagine running into one of these.  Just imagine.
photo by Randa Williams