Grandson Gregg and an Angry Bear



My grandson is a police officer in Aspen Colorado. He's been relating stories to me about the bears breaking into people's houses and getting into their refrigerators. Their preference seems to be ice cream.

I've been enjoying reading his escapades, as he and his fellow officers chase the bears out of houses. Unfortunately, too many residents have left doors unlocked and the bears have become quite adept at opening doors. Of course if the door isn't locked, they don't have any problem climbing through windoes.

A few years ago, many of my family members were at a camp in the Angelus National Forest. We'd been told to put any snacks we'd brought into the old lodge for safe keeping. My mom and aunt and another lady, all in their late 80s at the time, slept in the lodge.

Sometime in the night my mom got up to go to the bathroom which was down the hall a ways from where she was sleeping. She stepped out without her glasses on and saw what she thought was a very large dog. She woke my aunt and told her, my aunt looked and said, "My dear, that's a bear. You can't go to the bathroom now."

The bear ate all the snacks including a huge jar of black licorice, he tasted the red licorice but left it--the only treat that wasn't eaten. He finally left and mom got to go to the bathroom.

After that we kept our snacks in the individual cabins even thought we were told not to. We figured we could yell loud enough to scare a bear away. Never had a problem after that.

Hope my grandson keeps me posted, I'm beginning to get an idea for another Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery.

Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com

Comments

Morgan Mandel said…
That's funny. At least the bear was nice. It could have had a very unhappy ending. I didn't know bears climbed through windows.

Morgan Mandel
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com
http://www.morganmandel.com
Dana Fredsti said…
Marilyn, he looks awfully cheerful for someone facing off with an angry bear. :-) Glad the story has a happy ending!
He loves his job, and remember, he wasn't the only officer there. Beats chasing bank robbers--that's what he did first week on the job.
Helen Ginger said…
Cute story. It also clears up a question as to why bears can be so rowdy. They like black licorice. Yeck! I have never liked black licorice. I believe it's because my dad used to brew sassafras tea and make us drink it.

If I came upon a bear on my way to the bathroom, I could probably scream loud enough and go into spastic convulsions to scare him off.

Helen
Straight From Hel
This was what grandson had to say,

"I am nervous, The closer I got, the more the bear growled, huffed, and moved in the tree. It's quite interesting, especially when you aren't looking at the bear."
Great post, Marilyn. It does sound like something you could slip into one of your novels!
Mary E. Trimble said…
What a fun story. When were camped at Glacier National Park in Montana, a mule deer attacked our dog. He wasn't seriously injured but for the rest of the trip he kept his eye on his back! The dog was on a leash when it happened--I think we had wondered into the deer's territory where she had young. Though we didn't hang out long enough to know for certain.
Stephanie said…
There is definitely plenty of literary fodder there! We have black bears where we live, in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, but they're not quite that audacious. They will loot trash cans, of course, but I've never heard of a break in!

My husband is a police officer, and I'm sure he'd much rather deal with bear break-ins than a robbery, gang incident, or domestic violence any day! Humans tend to be more dangerous and unpredictable than bears. :-)

My dad was a volunteer in the national forest near my home. They occasionally had to trap bears in cages and transport them elsewhere (if they get too used to humans, things can get messy -- as your grandson's story proves :-) ) Apparently, they had a problem with people OPENING the cages and letting the bears out before they had a chance to move them. Anyone who'd do that is either much braver or much stupider than I. *LOL*
M.M. Gornell said…
Ice cream of all things! Bears (never met one in person) and I evidently have something in common! Interesting story.

Madeline
Cheryl said…
Gregg can keep the bears, I'll stick to my foxes, fishers and raccoons; at least I'm bigger than those.

Oh, I can't wait to see what you come up with for a the next Deputy Tempe Crabtree book. Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman did an episode on the Great White Buffalo that was very well done. Here I am in TV land again.

Cheryl
The next book, out in September, while Tempe investigates the suspicious death of a popular supervisor, she has an encounter with the Hairy Man. (The Yokuts version of Big Foot.) Dispel the Mist is the name of the book.

Popular posts from this blog

Need to Catch Up With My Blog Tour?

Meet Morgen Bailey from the UK

The Alvarez Family Murder Mysteries By Heather Haven