Bearly
Survived
he
last time I visited the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, my husband
and I observed some curious human behavior. We were traveling the
loop in Cades Cove when we saw a crowd of people getting out of their
cars. Some among them were closely approaching a black bear to take
photographs. Alan looked at me uncomfortably and asked, "Does
this remind you of anything?" I laughed and stuck my head out
the sunroof and said to whom ever would listen. "My husband followed
a bear to take it's picture and almost got mauled!" When the
pronouncement received only minor attention, we drove on.
I've often wondered what posesses otherwise cautious
city dwellers to stalk claw footed, spiked tooth, bears for nothing
more than a 4x5 photo. My curiosity began the first time I ever came
came to the Smoky Mountains National Park twenty years ago.
Alan and I were newlyweds, and he had come home early
from work with the idea: It's a beautiful day, lets go to the Smokies!
It was our first time. By evening, we were glowing from the long wonderful
drive up Hwy. 19, and we sat by a stream eating fried chicken, honey,
and bisquits. We were deep in that "OOH, look at this",
and "AHH look at that" phase of our love afair with the
Great Smoky Mountains.
All at once I remembered seeing something on TV about
the dangers of feeding bears in national parks. Being a real scaredy-cat
by nature, I asked Alan about it. "Oh, you'll be lucky if you
ever see a bear." he said confidently. "They're afraid of
people." Great! I thought. Aren't animals more dangerous when
they're afraid?
A couple of minutes went by when I noticed a very black
stump about 20 feet back in the forest and across the 
creek.
As I looked closer, little eyes, and then a nose began to appear.
My eyes widened. I took one look at Alan, and said sternly, "There's
a bear!" To his bewilderment, I got up and quickly walked some
distance to the car.
Oh, no! The doors were locked! I turned around. Alan
stood up for the first time, and looked at me in utter amazement.
"What's the matter?" he called.
"There's a bear right across the stream!"
I yelled back. Alan stared at me for a moment, and then broke out
laughing.
What kind of reaction is that? I wondered? Who was this
nut I married, and was laughing himself silly? Hadn't I warned him
with all solemnity that danger lurked close by?
At last, Alan turned around and saw I was right. There
was a bear. Rather than panic, as I had done, he simply picked up
our food, walked back to the car and unlocked it. Thank goodness for
that! We both got in. Safe at last!
While I was telling him how frightened I was, he was
assuring me I was overreacting. He began fumbling for his camera and
film. "What are you doing?" I asked.
"I'm going to get some pictures of the bear and
her cub." Alan said blithely.
"You're
what?" I looked across the stream to see the bear was indeed
a mother with her cub. They were sniffing their way through the picnic
area especially around the trash cans. "Are you nuts?" I
asked Alan as he reached for the door handle. "You're not leaving
me out here!"
Alan got out of the car and began striding down the
road toward the bears. Instantly, I envisioned myself as a young widow
and quickly leaped from the car to protect my new husband. Exactly
how I was going to do that was unclear. As we walked toward the roaming
bears, I alternated between acting brave and warning of impending
doom.
Meanwhile, Mama bear and her cub had attracted the attention
of an older couple who were driving into the area. They stopped their
car just as the bear began walking in our general direction. Impulsively,
I climbed on top of the couple's car, saying, "I hope you don't
mind!"
"No, not at all." the old man said. Incredibly,
he was somewhat amused. He turned his attention back to the bear,
and my husband's boudacious charge. The mother bear and cub disappeared
into the edge of the forest. Alan held his forefinger in the air and
said excitedly, "I'll be just be a minute!" Then he too
disappeared.
Very quickly, Alan saw his chance for the perfect picture!
Excitedly, he framed the "perfect" scene: the cub with it's
paws on the side of a tree and looking right into the camera! Experiencing
a bit of tourist nervana, Alan thought, How cooperative! In an instant
his delusion of cooperation was shattered by a heart-stopping roar,
and the sight of mama bear headed right for him! Alan froze, and mama
bear stopped only a few feet from his stunned stare. Luckily, she
was only bluffing in an effort to scare off the intruder. Mission
accomplished! In shock, Alan retreated a safe distance.
Many naturalists claim the black is the strongest animal
for its size in North America. Knowing this, and being, no doubt,
discerning, you won't repeat Alan's mistake by chasing one down for
a photo op. Hopefully you will be lucky enough and cautious enough
to enjoy the park bears from a reasonable distance. Should one get
too close, however, it is helful to know that bears have very poor
eyesight and loud noises often scare them away. Also, it is helpful
to know a campground bear is more likely to be dangerous because they
can be enboldened by the desire for food and a history of having been
fed by unsuspecting tourists.
Finally, if you are very unlucky indeed, and do run
across the rare bear that shows a persistent interest in you, long-time
hiking enthusiast, Charles Blair, suggests throwing rocks and, if
all else fails, abandoning your food and climbing a tree.
Keep these things in mind and both you and the bears
will survive your trip to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park!
Jacqueline Thompson, Copyright 1997-99
OTHER RESOURCES:
For some good basic tips on taking better
travel pictures, click here.
Also see Johnny Molloy's adventure with a bear--an excerpt in this
issue of Rod's Guide ("Gimme Shelter")
from his book entitled Trial by Trail . University of Tennessee
Press, 1996, Knoxville.
