Bruins and Wardens

So today was supposed to be a pampered Mommy's day out. I had a massage scheduled and other yummy things planned. I dressed up a little so I could have fun prancing about town. I was just finishing my hair when The Wood Artist came in and said that I would need to change my plans for the day. He said I was to call my Dad and that he had never heard him so shaken. I rushed to the phone and called my Dad. He told of a traumatic night of watching a bear prowl around their house. At the time, they thought it was a grizzly, but later it was proved to be a brown black bear. It seems the bruin

wandered aggresively around their house for some time.

Dad had his 370 Marlin ready, should there be trouble. (It should be noted that they had much trouble with this bear last year and tried various "discouraging" techniques, including shooting over his head, and calling Fish and Game, but to no avail.)

When the bruin lunged on top of their old dog, Annie Rose, who was lying stock still with fright in her straw-bale dog house (in the carport), Dad jerked open the door and fired. He put one bullet right through the heart. The bear lunged through the straw bales and out the back and disappeared. Mom and Dad spent the rest of the night wondering if it was dead, where their other dog was, and whether Dad would face legal ramifications for killing what they thought was a griz.

So this morning we joined them and the warden who came to investigate at Dad's request. The first thing they discovered was that it wasn't a grizzly. Whew! We also found out that one can shoot a grizz if it is getting livestock, such as cows, sheep, or chickens. But you will be prosecuted if you are only defending your dog! The warden was a wonderful person and took to teaching our children all about bears and such. He let us fiddle around with taking plaster casts of the paws and even suggested we write a letter to request the bear for educational purposes for our tutoring service.

In the end, we got some great pictures, of which I will be posting more soon. He took the bear to a freezer and we will start proceedings tomorrow to see if we can have a bear rug and skull preserved for educating our students. The kids got a great field trip. As for me, my Mommy's day out consisted of getting a little bear blood on my hands and boots, instead of a massage. Oh, well, you can get a massage any day! - Nanette