The net cage was brutal: the knots were pulled impossibly tight. I cut through them one by one, careful not to nick the hide. Every second stretched: my car’s engine crackled, cool damp air drifted from the forest.

First I freed the right paw, then the shoulder. The bear growled softer, listening to the knife’s scrape, and endured. At last, the final cord gave way, and the net slipped off like a heavy cloak.

I froze. We stared at each other; he could have lunged — I knew it. But at that moment the bear did something that left me in shock 😱😱 To be continued in the first comment 👇👇