This is how I like to find out there's a bear in the area. Their tracks remind me not to go blundering about in the wilderness without paying close attention to the four S's: surroundings, signs, sounds and smells because face-to-face meetings with bears are exciting, but never desirable. Very much like face-to-face meetings with many people. It's sometimes even more dangerous to venture into human-populated areas than bear country. Unlike bears, people habitually pretend to be benign and benevolent as a matter of course while scheming and setting traps for their prey to step into.
So I pay close attention to every predator track I come across in the area, especially two-legged predator tracks. The difference between bear tracks–or the tracks of any wild creature–and people tracks is ego. Wilderness creatures leave tracks as a simple matter of passage over the earth while they go about the work of surviving. People will leave tracks as a matter of gaining recognition to feed ego. Sometimes ego swells to such an extent that keeping it satisfied drives obsessive ambition to gain power over others.
An ill or injured bear will attack unprovoked out of anger at the pain and fear of being vulnerable. People will attack as part of their power plays to gain advantage. Not all people live their lives seeking recognition to satisfy ambition. Just the defective do.
It's a rare individual who lives to relieve stress in themselves and others.
