By Michelle Tate 
I underestimated the true meaning of a mama bear instinct, and just how deeply it would run, until my first son was placed in my arms. The heavy weight of the fact that I was his voice, his advocate, and his defender hit me hard. I remember his tiny umbilical cord tearing away from the skin too soon during our short hospital stay, and my husband saw for the first time, the mama bear in me. It was like an out-of-body experience, because the ONLY thing on my mind was that my tiny human was hurting, bleeding, and crying. I was not stopping until the doctors and nurses checked him out head to toe, and assured me this was all healthy and normal.
I didn’t know my own strength until I became a mom. Through loss of pregnancies, sick children, physical threats, and defending my children from physical and emotion harm, I realized the power mama bears possess.
Mama bears are fiercely protective
She will attack any animal she believes to be a potential danger to her babies. Like a mother bear, I will create a human shield for my babies if anyone comes near with a cold or is a threat to their physical or mental well-being. I’ll go to the end of the earth for their health, happiness, and safety. Mess with me all you want, but mess with my babies, and you’ve got a fight on your hands.
Mama bears teach independence
In order to survive on their own, a mama bear teaches her cubs how to hunt, fish, and defend themselves. She facilitates growth, independence, and self-sustaining behaviors. With their mama, cubs learn important life lessons.
Mama bears can look bigger than they are
When adrenaline kicks in, a mama bear can puff up her fur, and stand on her hind legs to give the illusion she is much bigger and stronger than before. When angry, she will growl, pound her paws on the ground, and charge toward anything threatening the safety of her cubs. Little can also mean mighty when it comes to a mama and her cubs. Anyone who knows me knows I’m a tiny little thing. Many of my nicknames tends to start with “little” or some variation of small. But mess with my babies, and I can puff up and stand up tall for their protection.
Mama bears are devoted and attentive to their young
She is her cubs’ biggest advocate, and rarely leave her cubs’ side. The #1 priority of a mama bear is her young. Have you ever seen a nursing mama with a crying baby? I remember my husband telling me I got a glazed over look in my eye when my babies needed to nurse. It was a drop everything, Mother Nature is calling kind of feeling.
Don’t mess with a mama bear (or her sleuth of mama bears)
I’ve been on the giving and receiving end of the joint force a sleuth of mama bears can bring to a fight. I don’t know anyone willing to go up against those fierce mamas. I’ve had stranger mamas literally bow up in the face of danger for my child. My mama bear friends have come to my rescue time and time again, loving and protecting my kids like their very own cubs. I have become a real bear defending someone else’s children too. There’s just an instinct that fuels that fire for a mama protecting a child.
I am a self proclaimed mama bear. I am a mom who is lovable . . . until you mess with my babies.
If there is any threat to my litter, a ferocious instinct takes over, and I will stop at nothing to protect my cubs. The quickest way to see my aggressive side is to threaten my babies. The most dangerous place to be in between a mother and her cub. Try me!
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