Speaking of bears ...

15 years ago

I was looking at the captions for twomonth's cute bear picture and it reminded me of a ... well sorta ... funny bear story that I have.

When I was a kid ... I was probably around 5 or 6 ... we were spending some time up north at our family's cabin about 40 miles from the Upper Michigan border of Wisconsin. For the history buffs around there, it was about 50 miles north of Peshtigo where a fire that made the Chicago fire look like a tiny spark raged in 1871.

My dad and a friend went bear hunting. It was probably sometime in the fall right before the bears hibernate because my dad's friend shot one of the biggest black bears on record in Wisconsin at that time. I think it was around 550 pounds.

Of course, us kids knew my dad was hunting but we didn't know WHAT he was hunting. So one day when my parents yell for us kids to get in the car because we are going into town, we ran like the dickens for the family station wagon. I jumped in the back seat first and our big dachshund Fritzie jumped in right behind me. I jumped right back out and the dog jumped over the front seat.

The record size black bear was in the back of our wagon! It was lying on its belly like a bear rug with its mouth open and fangs agape. Its claws were about the size of my fingers and were hanging over the seat that had been lowered flat.

My parents, having a wicked sense of humor, made us ride in the back with the bear. We kept screaming that it was still alive because we could see its breath (steam coming out of its mouth) and we swore to God that it moved! My parents kept reassuring us that the bear was gutted and couldn't possibly be alive ... but us kids sure thought differently.

For some reason I just love bears as long as they aren't in the car with me! lol!

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (17)

sunnyca_gw
15 years ago
I'll bet he smelled great too!!! Don't think that would be my "cup of tea" either, You would hear me screaming 1 county away!!! I like my critters alive & at a distance!! Enjoyed your story!1 Thanks! Jan
use2bcapecodr
15 years ago
What a great story...I love it!!

~Sandy~
Related Discussions
Speaking of holidays....
Q
Comments (4)
Wow, thanks for starting this post. I too am a humbug. I used to say it had to do with money and expections I put on myself (and by the population.). However, I am convinced it to had to do with expectations when I was small, and the pressure it put on my mom to "get it all done". I am very grateful to my partner in life because he doesnt care if things are "in order" around the house. WIth working and making ends meet, there doesnt seem to be a moment to enjoy the holidays I just dont have the energy to do much past 6:00 in the evening. But here they are and I will try to smile about it all. So before I get to grumpy, Happy Holidays to all my meno-sisters! Shotzy
...See More
Bears coming out of Hibernation
Q
Comments (5)
NH Fish & Game says to take feeders down by April 1. We usually see a mother bear and cubs in the spring and then usually not again although at one 4th of July party a bear strolled along the stone wall maybe 200 yards away in the middle of the day. The UPS guy says he always checks the area near our house where the woods meet a marshy meadow. He has video of cubs scrambling up a tree. We have watched cubs playing while mama made work of something near the stone wall, perhaps an insect nest. Across the road a bear tore a dead tree apart to get insects. We have never had a problem with one coming to our compost bins but I usually top kitchen scraps with a thick layer of grass clippings or leaves. That said, a gardening acquaintance in a very rural area of New London (last house on a dirt road) had a bear tear into her garden shed to get the bird seed. We also have deer and other wildlife that usually stay away from the house. Maybe they just have more wild food available. I have more trouble with voles and chipmunks doing damage to the vegetable garden. One time we did not give permission for someone to train his bear dogs on our property. Of course, the dogs didn't know property bounds. Someone was camping next to the river and the dogs chased the bear towards them. Upon seeing the people, the bear jumped into the river. The farmer used to plan corn in the field on the other side of the stone wall and we used to see more wildlife then. It's a hayfield now so we usually only see deer and one porcupine. Even the wild turkeys have stopped visiting and they used to roost in the pines along the edge of the field.
...See More
Speaking of bears
Q
Comments (3)
Last year, there was a black bear that wandered into the north side of Milwaukee, WI and as he neared downtown, he turned westward into Brookfield. He had been sighted when miles north of Miwaukee and was tracked by the DNR by reported sightings. He was darted and taken away. The DNR said it was a young male, maybe 2 yr old. They thought he had wandered out of his birth territory to find a new location for himself and a mate. Likely, there was a dominant male in his home area.
...See More
Saw a mountain lion!
Q
Comments (31)
My DH and I went hiking in a wilderness park here in Southern CA. The ranger at the gate warned us that there had been numerous mountain lion sightings in the past week. I was so freaked out and kept looking behind us expecting to see a giant cat stalking us. The place was empty, we didn't see another person the whole hike. But I really didn't enjoy it and was relieved to be back in our car on our way home. We have so many bears in our neighborhood back in semi-rural PA. I see them often when walking. They don't bother people. This is the bear that climbed up to our deck (12 ft up and no stairs to the yard).
...See More
Marlene Kindred
15 years ago
Great story! Sounds like the kind of thing my parents would have pulled on my brother and me when we were young!
nonacook
15 years ago
Good story!
My Dad used to put a possum in the garbage can and then send the kids-anybodies kids-out to put a piece of trash in it. Of course, the possum would hiss and the kids would jump! I don't know haw many times Daddy caught the same possum-It had scars and was easy to recognize.
leveta
15 years ago
How funny....
akup_a
15 years ago
oh my! Bears & possums & scaring the kiddies! Loved the stories.
Vickie
susiewantsroses
15 years ago
That sounds like something I would do to my kids. LOLOLOL (However, I'm not much of a bear hunter. ha)
My Grand Father was born on April Fools Day and he acted a fool for the rest of his life. Totally ruined 2 generations that followed.

Life is so-o-o-o-o serious that if you cant find a reason to laugh you need to conjure one up!!!!!!! Makes great memories.

Susie
daisydal
15 years ago
I loved your story, Luna!! I bet your folks were ROFL on that one!!!!!!Thx for sharing yours too, nona! I dont like possoms, that hissin thing scares the fire outta me!!!
blessings-sherri
sunnyca_gw
15 years ago
I left a trash barrel out back & it had a few leaves in it & rain was coming so thought I would dump the leaves & put the lid on it. It was late afternoon & starting to sprinkle. I looked to see how full it was & there was a possum, I rolled it some & it sure looked dead. Ugh!! So now this thing is going to start rotting in my leaves & I'll have to dump it all- imagining a very stinky mess!! I banged on it with a stick & laid it on it's side it case it wasn't dead & wanted out, even went & got a flashlight & got off to the side as figured if it was alive it would come out of there like it was shot out of a cannon when the light hit it, NOthing, dead for sure. I figured it fell in & had died at least 1-2 days before. Rain lasted several days & by time I got out there again I was trying to figure out how I was going to stomache all this, I peered inside & couldn't see anything, got the flashlight to see under the water better but nothing there. That critter had gotten away & fooled me playing dead, he had to crawl out of a plastic 40 gal trash container so I don't know how he held on. I was glad I didn't have to deal with him. Yrs before I walked out front door to get the newspaper & hanging on the vine was this critter upside down,I screamed! DH said I probably scared poor possum half to death!! Just stay alive & go home is my motto for critters!!! Jan
susiewantsroses
15 years ago
Speaking of possums....(this is susiewantsroses other half) Susie and I returned home from dinner one night and to our amazement our dogs had brought a possum in through the dog door and left it curled up in front of our TV set in the living room. They (the dogs) were so proud of themselves and the possum certainly looked dead to us. Susie wanted me to go out and bury it but it was too late for digging holes. I put it in a plastic garbage bag and tied the top in a knot. I intended to dig the hole the next morning to bury the poor creature that had probably been through quite a fight with our dogs. Well as you can guess the next morning there was the plastic bag with the bottom ripped out where the possum had clawed his way out and escaped. What a surprise that was to us, it was playing some good possum that night....
sunnyca_gw
15 years ago
Wow!! Interesting story DH of Susie!! Now we know the expression "playing possum" is very accurate! I once went out to see if I had locked side gate & "cornered" one & he hissed at me,I shot back into the house. I've seen on TV where they can be very mean so I guess if they play dead & you act like they are they probably won't harm you. But if you poked them with a stick of something they might just attack. I imagine the possum in your bag was OK with it all until breathing got hard & then he got out fast!! Amazing ! Jan
jeannespines
15 years ago
Yuck! I dislike possums also...here's my story...Many, many (probably a hundred years ago) we had something killing our chickens "in the chicken house" and the doors were shut...but it's an old bldg. So my DH set traps...well, one day (he was at work) I went out to feed & water & here was this ugly animal snaring in the trap. UGH!! I called my DH at work to return a call during his lunchtime.

Well, he told me to just get the rifle and go out and SHOOT IT!!! (so it wouldn't get loose before he got home). UGH!!UGH!! I do not "shoot" anything...couldn't even learn to do the pheasant-hunting thing in those young married years. So, anyway, I get his rifle and go out and standback about a car length from the trapped possum and I shoot several bullets. Well, that did it! He lay there and it was all over with!

My DH got home and got a shovel to bury it...but low & behold, that ol' possum started snarling at him!!! Good grief, woman! I had shot that possum lookin' thru the scope on his rifle! (so I didn't know that would throw off my aim!) Needless, to say, I never hit him once! That's my possum story, and I'm stickin' to it! Do not like those critters! Jeanne S.

I could maybe pass for "Annie Oakley" (cir 1950)but I ain't no "Rifleman!"
{{gwi:78438}}
susiewantsroses
15 years ago
Fun Story Jeanne!!!!
Adorable little precious girl with her "Routin' Tootin' Cowgirl Duds" on!!!! What's that up on your left shoulder?

Susie
tennesseetrash
15 years ago
Loved the bear story Luna ... I see where you get that *wicked* sense of humor LOL!

And the possum stories ... all funny ... you know why they say "playin' possum". I saw one crawling under my deck last summer, it scaled this concrete wall to get under the deck. I was down in the yard and thought when I saw it out of the corner of my eye "that's not a cat ... they can't scale walls" Ewww! LOL

Jeanne, such a cutie pie! That house looks like my maternal GMs house, except her covered porch was on the side, and was was screened, not glass. And it had the prettiest pine grove to the right of the house, that's where we had so many Easter Egg hunts, etc. Love those old photos! I need to find the disk where we have lots of our scanned pics.

~tenderlee
jeannespines
15 years ago
Nothing on my shoulder, susieroses, unless it's "attitude!" I zoomed in and couldn't see anything...my Mom probably made this outfit ...she sewed everything for us kids! And lots of times we had "matching outfits!" Bless those good Moms who made do with so little! Jeanne S.
sunnyca_gw
15 years ago
Speaking of possums, you will not believe this 1! It's in todays "DAily News" A call went out about an injured possum collapsed in from of apt. complex. L.A. Dept of Animal Services responded. They found the marsupial wrapped in blankets & kids defending it. The animal was wheezing. They took it to woman named Varvarigos who rescues animals & she took it to 2 vets in Woodland Hills. They did surgery for it's 9 mm bullet hole that seemed to have gone all over. Went in forehead through sinus,broke jawbone & lower jaw. May need 2nd surgery total cost about $9,000!!!!!!! This is Los Angeles where they take hospital patients dump them out of wheelchairs back onto streets in downtown . Wonder if poor critter will have headache rest of his life-guess he can't tell them!! Jan
susiewantsroses
15 years ago
Jeanne- It must be your hair on your shoulder in the pic.
I have made a cowgirl suit for my little grand daughter that I dont get to see anymore. :o( Hubs made a stick horse to go with it. He put a wheel at the bottom end of the stick. Fun Fun Fun!!! Forever memories.

Susie

Speaking of bears ...

Comments (17)

sunnyca_gw

use2bcapecodr

Related Discussions

Marlene Kindred

nonacook

leveta

akup_a

susiewantsroses

daisydal

sunnyca_gw

susiewantsroses

sunnyca_gw

jeannespines

susiewantsroses

tennesseetrash

jeannespines

sunnyca_gw

susiewantsroses

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US