Bear Running Around City Of Richmond
Table of contents for 14/ Writing
I don’t think I will be heading down to Belle Isle on the James River in the next few days. Some of the photos in this blog are from there. It’s a nice place. But there is a bear lose in the city. And he’s probably pretty hungry if he’s desperate enough to go down there.
There are lots of animals who wander down from the mountains from time to time using the James as a handy guidepost to civilization. Not long ago a guy who has a home overlooking the river told me he saw a huge buck in his backyard. Apparently the deer was lonely because before you can say Bambi loves Thumper five times he jumped up on his deck and through the plate glass window into the living room.
The deer did a lot of damage in the house. But he didn’t eat anybody. The thing I keep thinking about is that film about the guy who went to Alaska to make friends with the bears. His name was Timothy Treadwell and he liked to talk to the bears. If they got a little too aggressive he would scream at them and chase them away. He was amazing.
Until one day he went head to head with this old bear who was having trouble finding enough to eat. The bear was not impressed with all the screaming. He was in a “either you shoot me or I am going to have you for lunch” frame of mind. And our friend didn’t have a gun.
Our bear who is running around the city sounds a lot like this bear. And they have been interviewing people on the radio who have seen him.
“I saw him”.
“He was brown”.
“He was a bear”.
“He wanted to eat me”.
“I ran like hell”.
A lot of big black dogs have been mistaken for the bear. If I was a big black dog I think I would stay indoors for awhile. Because there are also a lot of guns in the city. And guys who would love to get their pictures in the paper standing over the bear and looking happy.
But it doesn’t look like this is going to happen. Because the guy on the radio just announced that a bear was killed crossing Interstate 95 about five am this morning.
I-95 runs through the city too.
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One response so far
Whoa, what a GREAT story! I laughed as well as found it fascinating. Ooooh, all the excitement one bear is causing. : ) : ) I hope some of the fanatics out to shoot it don’t shoot somebody’s kid or wife or husband or other. But then you said you thought is had been hit on the highway. I used to live in northern Maine up by Baxter State Park and it was FULL of wildlife up there and I never feared the wildlife but during hunting season I did not go into those woods due to the inexperienced trigger happy hunters that come from other states to get a bear, moose, etc. Lots of hunting lodges in that part of the country.
LAUGHED over this part:
“people on the radio who have seen him.
“I saw him”.
“He was brown”.
“He was a bear”.
“He wanted to eat me”.
“I ran like hell”.
A lot of big black dogs have been mistaken for the bear. If I was a big black dog I think I would stay indoors for awhile.”
Great writing — a lively story!! Thanks