Comments on: The Bear

By: Suza

Suza — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 07:00:51 +0000

Thanks for sharing this important story.

If you love bears, learn all you can about them.
Visit the Ojai Wildlife League website, http://www.OjaiWildlifeleague.com.

Thank you for reading your beautiful poem Robert…

By: Jim

Jim — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 05:25:45 +0000

We have a walking trail that wends through our town. Paralleling it for a substantial part of its length is “Town Creek”, cleverly named because it wends its way through our town.

A few summers ago, we were walking on the trail on a calm Saturday evening. Up from the creekbed — which is a “wildlife corridor — came bounding a large black animal. I said to Mary, “Damn! That’s the biggest, ugliest dog I’ve ever seen!”

Then the big ugly dog climbed a tree. Whoa…

I waved my arms, made human noises, and backed slowly away, opening the distance from the mere twenty yards that at first separated us. I didn’t turn and I didn’t run, because after all I have been reading outdoor magazines most of my adult life.

The bear must not have read the same magazines. He climbed back down the tree.

We scampered up a bank and onto a city street. The bear went into the woods and did whatever bears do in the woods. Safe among the traffic once again, we decided to take sidewalks the rest of the way home.

Why did that happen to your bear? I have an idea, because in a large town an hour from here something very similar happened, and it culminated in the death of that bear too. The bear was in a city park where a lot of kids were playing. It is a busy park, and the bear drew attention. An adoring crowd bustled up against a police tape line, eager to get a glimpse of the bear. The word got around, and the people came. Bears and crowds cannot coexist.

Make a few human noises and back slowly away. Leave the bear a large space through which to exit the populated area.

There’s a saying out West: “A fed bear is a dead bear”.

Maybe there’s a variation on that to cover both your bear and the big park’s bear: “A viewed bear is a screwed bear”.

I’m sorry it happened the way it did.

By: Suza Francina

Suza Francina — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 22:06:08 +0000

Three weeks have gone by since the bear was killed. Your story, and the other writings from those who witnessed this sad event, is more important than ever. The more I learn about black bears, the less what happened, from beginning to tragic end, makes sense.

By: Robert Peake

Robert Peake — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 04:27:42 +0000

Thanks, Jeannine–I agree that “kill it” should be an absolute last resort.

By: Robert

Robert — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 05:25:26 +0000

It right outside my door, Keith, along with the iron statue of the bear in the tree–looking just like him, except motionless. I pay my respects every morning before heading to work.

By: Keith S. Wilson

Keith S. Wilson — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:41:28 +0000

What a beautiful (but sad) story. I won’t lie, it was a little tear-jerking to see the photo, where people actually left things for the bear.

By: Jeannine Hall Gailey

Jeannine Hall Gailey — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 23:24:51 +0000

I used to encounter bears all the time in Tennessee. Grizzlies, I think, which are supposed to be the dangerous ones. It was not uncommon then for us to bike or drive past a mother bear and her cubs on a road or a mountain path. As a child I ran into several smallish bears and did not even think to be afraid – I just went on with my walking or fossil-gathering or whatever I was doing. That was before they started putting up signs about bears, the dangers of bears, what to do if you see a bear, etc.
I think as the population has gone up in the areas where bears live, these problems will continue to arise, and yes, we should have better solutions that “kill it!”

By: Robert Peake

Robert Peake — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:06:07 +0000

It was a profound experience, Ivy, and not just for me.

By: Ivy

Ivy — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:48:02 +0000

Great posting, Robert. I appreciate how respectful it is to what I can only imagine is an encounter with simple majesty.

By: Robert

Robert — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 03:43:18 +0000

What a remarkable experience, Rebecca. Thanks for sharing it.

I have raised some questions for our community to ponder on our local blog:

http://www.ojaipost.com/2009/10/bears_death_deserves_a_constru_1.shtml

By: Rebecca Loudon

Rebecca Loudon — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 02:41:31 +0000

We had a black bear here last year. A cop hit it with a stun gun and killed it. We had another bear (or 2) in our neighborhood this year. The bear was tricky this time, evading the police’s efforts to contain him. I don’t think they ever found him. We have an amazing bunch of natural wetlands and forests here. I think he’s biding his time until winter. I hope.

When I was 9 I came face to face with a black bear on a trail at Glacier National Park. I had a peanut butter sandwich in my hand. I tore the sandwich in half and gave half to the bear who gulped it in one big swallow, eye balled me, and turned to lope away.

It was a spiritual and intense moment for me.

Rebecca