Not all North American black bears are black!  As well as the white black bears – the kermode or spirit bear, the BC coast is also home to another non-black black bear, the cinnamon bear.  I had heard of these bears, but, despite several attempts to see one, had never been fortunate enough to actually see a live one.  That all changed late last spring when I came across this guy along the BC coast.  These bears, Ursus americanus cinnamomum, can have a variety of several shades of brown or reddish brown coat, but apart from their coat, like spirit bears, they have similar characteristics to other black bears.  If you were to travel a little further north into the Yukon or Alaska you may also be lucky to find a ‘blue’ black bear or glacier bear.  Should you want to learn more, the 2002 book ‘The Blue Bear’ by Lynn Schooler is a good place to start.