Tale of Arodan and the three bears

Editor:

On Saturday around noon I was mowing my grass and I spotted an unwanted groundhog. I went up by my tractor barn and watched for it to come back out.
Out of the corner of my eye I spotted something running back into the bushes. It was black and large and I figured it was a dog. But I thought to myself that this dog sure had a big butt and ran funny.

I sat there for around 10 more minutes and looked to the left again and could not believe my eyes. There were three big black faces with round ears and large long brown snouts looking at me. I was in shock and kept rubbing my eyes thinking that I was seeing things.

It was a mama bear and her two cubs!

I live in Aroda on John Tucker Road and on the opposite side of the mountain and seeing a bear was a weird sight. I have been there for nearly nine years and have never seen one. I have had them come through twice in the years and tear down my bird feeders. But I have never seen one.

She sat there with her cubs on both sides and they looked at me and I looked at them. It was a weird sight seeing three bears sitting by my Leyland cypress trees.

I decided to abort my groundhog hunt and go call my neighbors. As I spoke to my neighbors I came to understand that most people think that bears are going to kill their dogs and cats and livestock. Please remember that they are vegetarians and not meat eaters.

Just leave them alone as they are more afraid of us than we are of them. They are just wild animals that are trying to exist with humans. They will not bother you if you don’t bother them.

They do like bird seed and trash. So keep your trash closed up and if you lose bird feeders, well, you just lose them.

Gerry Ayres
Aroda
Hidden Springs Hollow Farm