"Going on a "Baur" Hunt

Have you every played "Going on a Bauer Hunt"?  Well, I did when I was a child.  Bauer  meaning bear.  It goes something like this.  "Let's go on a Bauer hunt." echo!  "Thauer's a Bauer."  "Whauer?"  "Over thauer."  "Well, let's go."  That might not be totally correct, but you get my drift.  While you are saying the words, you would alternate clapping each leg.

From playing the game to experiencing it in real life has been a big deal for this Southern girl.  I went from squirrels in my back yard to black bears roaming around my neighborhood.  I must say that it has been pretty cool.

I haven't seen any sightings this year until this past Monday.  I was driving down the mountain to Franklin, NC when all of a sudden this big black bear went across the road, followed my two small ones.  It was exciting!  It is just as exciting to me now, as it was about 10 years ago when we moved here.

 I have three memorable sighting.

                                                       ONE:
We had just moved to Highlands.  We had heard NOT to leave out any bird feed or trash at night.  We took the information in stride, but my husband truly didn't believe it.  He thought we lived to high up for the bears to bother us.  WRONG!  We hid our trash in our outside storage room.  One day we came home to find a visitor had stopped by.  The bear never got into the storage room but the signs of him trying sure did leave their mark.  The ripping off the door post & his long paw nails were all over the door.  It was a good conversational piece for a long time.
                                                       TWO:
     We (my husband & I) would do anything to find a bear.  Some our friends had many visits from the bears because the bear dens were above their house.  So we would drive over & wait for sightings.  Sometimes it was eventful.
     Many times we would ride around looking for bears.  One night we really hit the jack pot!  We were riding around at night in our neighborhood & all of a sudden we saw a mother & two bear cubs scurrying through the woods.  I thought after a brief sighting it was all over.  After driving a little bit more we found them again.  They had crossed the street to a heavy wooded area.  We stopped & positioned the car so that the head lights were right on them.  I could not believe that we didn't scar them away.  Then we saw the most amazing thing.  For the next 15 minutes the mother bear was standing on her hind legs, reaching up for the berries in a tree.  The cubs scurried up another tree trying to hide.  After seeing that Mom seemed fine with the situation, they came down.  They gradually climbed up into the same tree with Mom & enjoyed the berries.  They were so CUTE!  I was spelled bound.  What a blessing & a sight to behold.
                                           LAST, BUT NOT LEAST-THREE:
     One evening early Spring, my husband & I went to our separate events.  He happened to get home before I did.  One of our customs when we get home after being gone is to let the dog out to go to the bathroom.  All of a sudden, she darted out, & went into the woods behind our neighbors house.  My poor husband runs after her.  Now, he is wearing shorts going through the thick, woods full of trees & brush.  Not to great on his legs.  All of a sudden he hears our dog give a dieing "yelp".  All he could think of was,"she is dead."  Now he is looking for her dead body.  He comes up to a big bush & has to decide which way to go-right or left.  He makes a decision, then all of a sudden he notices leaves falling on his head.  He looks up & saw the tiniest bears cubs.  They must have just come out of the den for the first time.  Then my husband heard the mother bear snort at him!  Now he is thinking,"I'm dead!".  He got out of there & went home as quickly as possible.  This took a little time.
      Low & behold there was our dog.  Bleeding.  She had made it through the bear attack, got out of the woods & back to home.  The mother bear had literally put our dog in her mouth & threw her.  You don't get between a mother & her cubs.
      Remember, as I had just written, it was early Spring.  The bears were just now coming out of their dens & they were hungry.  It was the beginning of the season & my husband was ready to see a good bear sighting.  So, he had been praying that God would bless him in this way.  This was a little too close for comfort.  What is that saying, "Be careful what you pray for."  :)
      Oh, I forgot to mention that our dog is less than five lb, her name is Truffle, & she is a Yorkshire Terrier.  Yes, she attacked a mother bear & cubs, & is still living to tell about it.  She will be 14 yr old in Nov.
                                                           ann :)