Photo: Too close for comfort

Natalie Papigatuk says she always wanted to see a live polar bear, but maybe not so close. Papigatuk spotted this bear sniffing up the stairs to her mother-in-law’s housing unit in Ivujivik late April 27 (just left of the parked truck) until a passing snowmobile finally scared the animal away. Ivujivik has seen a number of polar bears wander into the community of 400 this winter, located at the northwest tip of Nunavik where the Hudson Bay meets the Hudson Strait. (PHOTO COURTESY OF N. PAPIGATUK)